GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson sat in a courtside seat on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. He was there to watch what may have been Kobe Bryant’s last game in New York.

But another player caught Johnson’s eye over the course of the afternoon.

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Shortly after the game, another Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant, told Kristaps Porzingis that he has a “bright future.”

Yes, the rookie seems to be exceeding everyone’s expectations so far -- except his own.

“I know I can do better,” Porzingis said on Monday, less than 24 hours after notching his third double-double in four games against Los Angeles.

When the Knicks selected Porzingis with the fourth overall pick, some wondered how the rail-thin 7-foot-3 prospect from Latvia would handle playing against NBA-caliber big men.

So far, Porzingis has handled it well. Entering play on Monday, the power forward leads all rookies with 3.6 offensive rebounds per game -- 1.2 rebounds ahead of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor. He is second among rookies in both rebounds (8.6) and blocks (1.29) per game.

“As you can see, I’m still skinny, I’m still light. But I fight hard and I can’t back down to anybody,” said the 243-pound Porzingis. “So that’s been my game; a lot of people didn’t know my game. So that’s why they thought, ‘Skinny white guy, he’s not going to be physical.’ But I still fight for those rebounds and try to do my job on the court.”

The issue right now for Porzingis is how to stay on the court. He leads all rookies in fouls per game (4.1), and his propensity to foul took him off the court for important stretches of the Knicks’ loss last week in Cleveland.

But teammates and head coach Derek Fisher believe Porzingis’ foul rate will decrease with time.

“He’s getting better day in and day out,” Carmelo Anthony said on Monday. “You see different flashes every game of what he can be. I always say he has a lot of upside, so it’s just a matter of him staying consistent, him staying confident and believing in himself.”

It would be foolish to make any bold proclamations about Porzingis’ career after just seven games. But he has found a way to impact both ends of the floor thus far.

Through seven games, Porzingis is averaging 18.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.9 steals per 36 minutes.

The numbers are impressive, but it’s worth noting that Porzingis is playing 24.3 minutes per game -- eighth highest among rookies. And the Knicks probably won’t play him 36 minutes per game at this point in his career.

So the per-36 numbers aren’t necessarily a projection of what Porzingis can produce. But they can be used as a baseline for historical comparison.

And that comparison puts Porzingis in good company.

Only three rookies have ever averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal per 36 minutes for an entire season (while qualifying for minutes-per-game leaderboard), according to ESPN Stats & Information’s Micah Adams.

Those three players -- Robert Parish, Hakeem Olajuwon and Arvydas Sabonis -- all are Hall of Famers (though Sabonis was 30 when he debuted in the NBA).

Porzingis also has 86 points and 60 rebounds through seven games.

This is admittedly a random set of numbers to use for a historical comparison. But only 13 other players over the last 30 years had at least that many points and rebounds through their first seven games, according to Adams.

That list includes Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan, Chris Webber, Lamar Odom and Shaquille O’Neal.

This is heady company.

But as Fisher points out, it’s reasonable to expect Porzingis to struggle during portions of his rookie season.

“I don’t think we could anticipate that he’d be as good as he’s been. There probably will be a stretch for two weeks where he looks bad and everybody is questioning whether we should have drafted him and all the stuff that comes with that,” Fisher said. “He’s a rookie and there’s a lot to learn. His ceiling is a long way from wherever he is now.

“We just have to be excited about the present but also the future.”

After seven games, Porzingis has given Knicks fans reason to be hopeful about both.

The future is indeed bright for our neophyte as Clyde would call him. I wish I could time travel to the year 2020 to see him beasting on the entire league for 25-15-5-2. Scary stuff!