http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nitty
Nitty has a few different meanings, one being somebody who focuses on the small negative aspects of something instead of seeing the big picture.
Urban Dictionary has some other unfavorable meanings.

I'd say its disrespectful to call him this. His mom raised three sons, one is professional basketball player, another is a surgeon, and the third is a physical therapist.
Interesting story on this kid....
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/war-torn-rwanda-knicks-journey-frank-ntilikina-article-1.3274618

"Nitty"? I think we as fans can do better.
How about "NLee"? "Kina"? "Frank"? "Nili"?

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By Stefanos_Makris
Fri, 05/12/2017 - 1:55pm
Stock Up

Frank Ntilikina (98', 6-5, France, Strasbourg)

Frank Ntilikina

Frank "Nitty" Ntilikina's stock seems to be on the rise again. The French prospect is still the starting point guard of his team, although he won't turn 19 until late in July, which says a lot about his talent and ability. He might not score a lot at this point, but he is not asked to do that. He is asked to play hard defense and make sure that all his teammates will be involved in offense and he is doing just that, with good results. What's impressive though is his assist/turnover ratio this past month (5 to 1). Ntilikina hasn't commited more than 1 turnover in almost two months (!) which is even more impresive if you take in consideration that he is playing in a League with great athletes and an uptempo game, similar to the NBA.

HofstraBBall wrote:Correct me if I am wrong...but thin the right pronunciation is "JA-RYE-AN GERR ANT"

I can see the reason you might think that but at no point was Grant ever the same level of prospect that Nitty is. I had high hopes for Grant to become a capable PG. He was so much more confident in College. The thing about Nitty is he has more versatility and far more talent if you can imagine he's done so much at a younger age. Phil clearly was looking at Nitty being able to fulfill what he hoped Grant would be.

nixluva wrote:

HofstraBBall wrote:Correct me if I am wrong...but thin the right pronunciation is "JA-RYE-AN GERR ANT"

I can see the reason you might think that but at no point was Grant ever the same level of prospect that Nitty is. I had high hopes for Grant to become a capable PG. He was so much more confident in College. The thing about Nitty is he has more versatility and far more talent if you can imagine he's done so much at a younger age. Phil clearly was looking at Nitty being able to fulfill what he hoped Grant would be.

Not so much a put down of Frank. More of a comment on any early boasting of a rookie. I am on record as preferring Smith Jr. But they all have to prove themselves.

GustavBahler wrote:The Knights who cant say Ntilikina