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Brandon Jennings takes Knicks teammate Willy Hernangomez to hostility school

Ben Rohrbach
·Senior NBA writer

Playing in two boroughs of the same city, the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets supposedly have a rivalry, even if both teams have been in the lottery more often than not over the past decade.

Never mind the fact the two franchises have played a total of three playoff series in their history — all of which came when the Nets still played across the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey and none of which lasted more than four games — they play in close proximity, and that’s all that matters.

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So, backup Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings wanted to send a message to rookie teammate Guillermo “Willy” Hernangomez, via NBC Sports: Under no circumstances do we help Nets players.

As Hernangomez extended his right arm to assist Brooklyn’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson after a Mindaugas Kuzminskas foul sent him to the ground with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Jennings grabbed his teammate’s left arm and pulled him away before he could help. Then, the best part: a subtle wave of the left hand by Jennings, as if to say, “C’mon, man, this is a rivalry!”

Maybe Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek subscribes to Pat Riley’s rule of fining players $1,500 for helping opponents off the floor, and Jennings just wanted to save Hernangomez from writing a check. Either way, Hernangomez has been indoctrinated into this feud of all feuds, and surely Hollis-Jefferson will think twice now before driving to the basket out of fear he might actually have to help himself up.

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Nets teammates Yogi Ferrell and Anthony Bennett gave Hollis-Jefferson a hand this time around, so he could take a couple meaningless free throws at the tail end of a game the Knicks won, 110-96. The important thing here is that Hernangomez struck fear in the hearts of Brooklyn for a long time coming, because surely there will be many more exhilarating battles between the Nets and Knicks.

If anybody is equipped to teach the young Spaniard a lesson in sparking a feud, it’s Jennings, who, among his many verbal exchanges over the years, as a Milwaukee Bucks player in 2012 got into a cursing match and questioned now Knicks teammate Carmelo Anthony’s toughness, as a member of the Detroit Pistons in 2013 ignited a Twitter battle with then-Knicks guard J.R. Smith over his brother Chris Smith’s inability to play in the NBA (which turned out to be true, by the way) and as a Knicks player recently called out Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell for being “a snitch.” It’s all very difficult to sort out his various rivalries, what with Jennings playing on his fourth team in five years.

We should note that, of the 10 guys on the court with 30 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s blowout, only Hollis-Jefferson and Sasha Vujacic even played for Brooklyn and New York respectively last season. Somehow, those bitter enemies didn’t crack the NBA’s list of the 70 greatest player rivalries.

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Someday soon, though, surely the Hollis-Jefferson vs. Hernangomez rivalry will be right up there with Shaquille O’Neal vs. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan vs. Isiah Thomas and all the other legendary feuds.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!