DeAndre Jordan has taken a mentor role since joining the Knicks a month ago -- imparting his wisdom on 20-year-old rookie Mitchell Robinson.
So it was only fitting on Thursday that Jordan's mentor, former Knicks center Marcus Camby, showed up to the game to meet Robinson, too.
It was the idea of Knicks head coach David Fizdale to bring in Camby, who played with Jordan his rookie year with the Clippers.
The former Knick averaged 2.4 blocks per game in his 19-year career in the NBA and was impressed with what he saw in Robinson while watching Thursday's loss to the Cavaliers.
"I think he has a tremendous upside," Camby said in an MSG Network interview. "[I've been] talking to coach Fiz a lot through text messages and he's trying to connect us to see if I can talk to him. He sees a lot of similarities in our game. Anything I can do for the youth to help them grow up, I'm all for it. I'm happy he's with us."
Robinson has been a defensive force for the Knicks, averaging 2.3 blocks per game in 46 games this season. He had 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in Thursday's loss but had come off back-to-back games of at least five blocks.
Yet Robinson has seen his game all-around improve since the arrival of Jordan, scoring double-digits in eight of his last 10 games and an uptick in his total rebounds per game, too.
Jordan has embraced the mentorship role and points to the relationship he developed with Camby as a rookie.
"[Marcus] was great for me," Jordan told Marc Berman of The Post. "I was 19 coming in. I didn't know much about studying the game, studying players and their tendencies. He was one of the guys who really took me under his wing. He's a big part of my communication on the floor today and how I study different players and what moves they like to do. He was the person I learned from."
The Knicks could have waived Jordan on Friday so a team that was eligible for the playoffs could pick him up, but Jordan likes the situation he is in with the Knicks.
"You want me to leave? Why do you keep asking me that? It's what the league is about," he said. "It's a fraternity. You learn from older guys like I learned from Marcus. Anytime you can help a younger player out that's what you're supposed to do. He's playing well. We've played against each other in practice a lot. Its tough battles. He's talking more. It's something we all love to see.
"I'm happy. If I wasn't happy I would've tried to get out of here. The fans here are great. I love what Fiz is doing."