Porzingis seeks to bring NBA championship to New York

The New York Knicks haven't captured an NBA championship since 1973 when the likes of Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, and Bill Bradley were setting Madison Square Garden on fire.

Kristaps Porzingis wants to be part of the solution that ends that drought and brings the Larry O'Brien trophy back to The Big Apple.

"My number one goal is to win the championship one day," Porzingis said in Greece over the weekend as part of the Antetokounbros Streetball Event, according to Euro Hoops' Nikos Varlas.

"The championship. That’s all we have in our heads, but we have to go step by step. We are not going to win a championship in one day. We have to start building, we have to first make it to the playoffs. That’s the number one goal right now. Get to the playoffs and then go game by game, day by day."

The Knicks finished the 2015-16 campaign at 32-50, failing to qualify for the postseason for the third year in a row. While the team improved by 15 wins from the year prior, they were still 12 games short of landing the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference.

Even though a long road may lie ahead for New York to once again be considered a legitimate threat to reach the NBA Finals, let alone win it all, Porzingis remains optimistic that the team is on the right path.

"It's not easy what we want to achieve, but I think that we, the fans and the organization has something to look forward to," Porzingis added. "I think we are growing and one day we want to win a championship, that's it."

Porzingis, 20, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and headlined the All-NBA Rookie first team during his inaugural season, averaging 14.3 points on 42.1 percent shooting, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 72 appearances for New York.