Daniss Jenkins sat in the visitors’ locker room at Madison Square Garden talking about the massive chip that remains on his shoulder, about everything he wants to accomplish in the NBA, about how much he is still motivated by going undrafted.
It’s clear the former Iona University and St. John’s star isn’t satisfied, despite how far he has already come. And, yet, there is a sense of accomplishment of where he is, part of the rotation for the title-contending Pistons, finally a full-time NBA player now that his two-way contract was recently converted into a standard, two-year deal.
“It just shows that anything can be done if you put your mind to something and your end goal never changes,” Jenkins told The Post before the Pistons beat the Knicks again, in his first game back on the Garden floor since he played for St. John’s. “Adversity is nothing to me. I’m just blessed. That’s all I really can say.”
Jenkins went from Pacific University and Odessa College in Texas, to Iona and then St. John’s. He was an All-Big East second team selection in his one season as a Johnnie under Rick Pitino, and landed with the Pistons on a two-way deal. He shined in his first season as a professional, selected to the G League’s All-Rookie team after averaging 21.2 points, 7.2 assists and 1.8 steals in 32 games while shooting 43.9 percent from the field. He clearly had plenty of talent, but it was other stuff that stood out to Detroit when he practiced with the Pistons.