Kristaps Porzingis Reflects on Time With Knicks

It’s been nearly nine years since the New York Knicks triggered boos on the night of the 2015 NBA Draft when they selected Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 overall pick.

Flash forward to present-day, and Porzingis is helping the Knicks’ biggest rival, the Boston Celtics, clinch their 18th NBA title. Porzingis was injured for most of the postseason, but has come back just in time to help the Celtics win their first two games against the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals.

Porzingis spoke with GQ Magazine to discuss his road to Boston and how much he’s grown since his days in New York.

“Early in my career, I had the hype and the New York stage and all of this,” Porzingis told GQ. “But to be honest, I wasn’t that good of a basketball player yet. I know I had some highlights and because it was in New York, everything was under the microscope … but the basketball player I am right now and I was in New York, it’s just night and day from an effectiveness standpoint, and understanding the game. That time in Washington helped me re-find and re-tool my game and take me to the next level.”

Porzingis spent his first four NBA seasons with the Knicks before being traded to the Mavericks, where he struggled to fit alongside Luka Doncic. That brought on frustrations for the Latvian big man, and a change of scenery was needed.

A trade to the Washington Wizards helped with that as Porzingis again found joy, peace and purpose to his game. However, the teammates that surrounded Porzingis in Washington were unable to put him in a position to succeed.

Now, joining the Celtics has given Porzingis exactly what he needs to be part of a championship-caliber team. It’s possible to argue that Boston’s missing piece to the puzzle was Porzingis. His 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game aren’t as high as his numbers last year in Washington, but the number “64” in the win column is what Porzingis prioritizes, and that beat every team in the league this year.

Now, the No. 4 overall pick from 2015 hopes that the number “4” will be next to Boston when counting wins at the end of this year’s NBA Finals.

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