Kristaps Porzingis is one of the best basketball players currently playing in NBA with the Dallas Mavericks!
So let’s find out some more things about him!
- Kristaps Porzingis is a Latvian professional basketball player
- He plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA)
- He was born on August 2, 1995
- He played for the New York Knicks from 2015 through 2018
- Porzingis is one of the tallest active players in the NBA, standing at 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) tall
- He plays both the power forward and center positions
- He was born in Liepaja
- Kristaps Porzingis began his professional career with EuroLeague team Sevilla in 2011
- Porzingis quickly rose through the team’s youth ranks and became the figurehead of the senior team by 2013
- He subsequently won the EuroCup Basketball Rising Star award in 2015
- At age of 18, he became the youngest ever recipient of the award
- The following summer, he declared for the NBA draft
- He was selected fourth overall by the Knicks
- The Dallas Mavericks acquired Kristaps Porzingis in a trade in 2019
- Kristaps Porzingis followed his parents’ footsteps and started to play basketball at age 6
- Once he turned 12, his older brother, Janis, who played professionally in Europe, would take Porzingis to offseason training sessions
- He played in youth competition with BK Liepajas Lauvas, the most famous club based in hometown of Liepaja, until he was 15 years old
- An agent from Latvia sent video of him around this time to teams in Spain and Italy
- In 2010, Baloncesto Sevilla, a club that had a professional team competing in the Liga ACB in Spain, called Porzingis for a tryout
- He stood 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and weighed 157 lbs (71 kg) at this time
- Kristaps Prozingis recalled the moment and said, “I came here with my brother for two or three days, but it was really hot and I couldn’t play at my best because of that. Still, I received a contract in summer 2010 and I signed it.”
- Inmaculada Avivar, a nutritionist for Sevilla, diagnosed that Porzingis was suffering from anemia, meaning that he had fewer red blood cells
- This caused him to feel fatigue, shortness of breath, and inability to exercise
- Nevertheless, he gradually overcame the condition and began seeing improvement in his game
- In addition to his medical problems, Porzingis had trouble picking up the language in Seville
- In his first season playing for the junior squad, he struggled to communicate with the coaching staff and his teammates and was often sleepy due to his health
- Kristaps Porzingis debuted for the youth squad on 4 January 2012
- The opposing side was led by Alexander Zhigulin, who would go on to enter the 2015 NBA draft and withdraw
- This game was part of the Ciutat de L’Hospitalet tournament, which led up to the Nike International Junior Tournament (NIJT)
- On 5 January, he scored a personal best of 16 points on the Spars Sarajevo youth squad, helping Sevilla beat their opponents by a margin of 8 points
- Kristaps Porzingis said, “I knew it was a prestigious tournament and that I had to do well. I think I could have done much better, but I wasn’t physically 100 percent. I have seen videos and could have been much more aggressive. But I wish I could have played better.”
- He finished the tournament averaging 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks
- Porzingis represented the Sevilla junior team again at the same tournament in early 2013
- Against Union Olimpija on 4 January, he recorded 15 points and 6 rebounds
- On 6 January, in the team’s tournament finale vs Real Madrid’s youth squad, he scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds
- He also made a total of five three-pointers
- Kristaps Porzingis proved to be more effective in his second year
- Averaging 16.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks and going .481 on three-pointers
- This would be his final stint in the youth categories of Sevilla
- On 29 September 2012, Porzingis got the opportunity to make an appearance with the club’s first team, but was allowed to play just a minute
- Following a return to the youth categories of the club at the Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L’Hospitalet, he went back to competing for the senior squad
- On 16 January 2013, he logged only four minutes against Spartak Saint Petersburg in the EuroCup, scoring no points, but contributing one rebound and one assist
- He scored his first basket for the senior team on 20 February 2013, in a rematch with Spartak
- Kristaps Porzingis said, “I was very nervous at the beginning: I wanted to do well and not pick up turnovers. At the same time, I got a lot of confidence with players of my same age. That allowed me to play better with the first team and practice with more confidence.”
- On 4 May 2013, he posted a season-high 7 points with the senior team, hitting two of three shots vs Bilbao Basket in ACB competition
- Kristaps Porzingis opened his second season on Sevilla’s main squad strong in his third game against the EuroLeague team Laboral Kutxa, leading them to a 20-point ACB victory on 2 November 2013
- He notched a career-high 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks
- He broke his scoring record once more against Real Madrid on 30 November 2013, nearly leading his team to a victory
- Against the very same team on 6 April 2014, Porzingis scored a career-high 20 points, nailing 2 three-pointers
- Despite his team losing, he began to trend on social media because of his performance
- On 25 May, he got the chance to face his idol Justin Doellman of Barcelona, whom he called the “best power forward in Spanish basketball”
- He scored 14 points against Doellman’s team
- In May 2014, Porzingis was selected in the ACB All-Young Players Team of the 2013–14 season
- In April, Kristaps Porzingis declared himself eligible for the 2014 NBA draft
- Before and after he made the decision, he drew interest from National Basketball Association (NBA) teams such as the Orlando Magic
- The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly were certainly going to select him with the 21st pick in the case that he remained
- Kristaps Porzingis was considered an unfinished product and a top-15 draft pick
- According to DraftExpress.com, he was the fourth-youngest prospect in their top-100 rankings
- Shortly before the day of the draft, however, he withdrew his name
- Kristaps Porzingis’s agent Andy Miller released the information to ESPN
- He wanted to develop his skills until the 2015 draft
- On 4 October 2014, against CB 1939 Canarias, Porzingis made his season debut in the Liga ACB, scoring 3 points in the game
- He made his first appearance at the 2014–15 EuroCup on 15 October, vs. EWE Baskets Oldenburg and scored 2 points
- However, he had a strong EuroCup performance against Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the weeks that followed
- There he contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks
- He recorded a double-double in mid-November in a win over Estudiantes, adding 11 points and 11 rebounds
- On 11 February 2015, he scored a season-high 19 points against the EuroCup’s Turów Zgorzelec
- He tied this record on 18 April 2015, vs. Bàsquet Manresa in the ACB
- On 15 April 2015, Porzingis was named the winner of the EuroCup Rising Star Award of the season
- One month later, he repeated in the ACB All-Young Players Team, after avoiding the relegation with Baloncesto Sevilla
- On 16 April 2015, Kristaps Porzingis entered the 2015 NBA draft, according to a report from agent Andy Miller
- After gaining a season more of experience, he became known as a lottery pick and a potential top-5 selectio
- He drew interest from teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers
- He was compared with players such as Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki, but also Darko Miličić
- On 25 June 2015, Porzingis was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the New York Knicks
- He was booed by some New York fans upon being drafted
- He vowed to change the fans’ opinions on him from negative to positive
- On the same night, the New York Knicks traded for Porzingis’ teammate from Sevilla, Willy Hernangómez, who was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as a 35th overall pick
- Kristaps Porzingis became the highest drafted Latvian and Baltic player in NBA history
- In October 2018, the Knicks decided against signing Porzingis to a rookie extension
- Due to recovering from his ACL injury, Porzingis did not play for the Knicks during the 2018–19 season
- On 31 January 2019, after a meeting with the Knicks left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded
- Kristaps Porzingis was traded alongside Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr. and two future first-round draft picks
- Porzingis is thus fluent in three different languages, including English
- He is also an avid fan of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which he plays regularly
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