Kristaps Porzingis is a Latvian professional basketball player who runs his business at the New York Knicks. The boy was a much sought-after talent in his first draft season. He outperformed many others before him in this sport as his talents were to be developed on the court.
His alleged first drafting attempt resulted in a slight drama in which the Kristaps was not drafted that year. You can read all about it here, including his biography, career, injury statistics, and all the other things we found interesting about this Latvian B-ball player.
Kristaps Porzingis Bio
The basketball player was born on August 2, 1995, in Liepaja, a city in the west of Latvia, whose parents were both basketball players and basketball enthusiasts. His father – Talis played basketball as a semi-professional, while his mother – Ingrida got much further with the game by playing basketball in the Latvian Women’s Youth National Team.
Porzingis has as his siblings; Martinš (younger brother) and Janis his older brother, who also took up the family’s sports tradition by playing basketball and now works as an agent for his brother (Kristaps Porzingis).
As an adolescent, Porzingis began to train his innate skills in basketball at the age of 6. His brother, who was already playing in Europe at the time, often took him to off-season training shortly after he turned 12. The boy then started playing for BK Liepajas Lauvas until he was 15 years old. When he was 15, he joined Baloncesto Sevilla, a Spanish team.
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He didn’t make his debut for the Spanish team until 2012, because he had language and health problems (anemia) which meant that he didn’t really fit into his new team. However, Kristaps made remarkable progress over time and soon had to contend with his teammates in training and with opponents in competitive matches.
Kristaps Porzingis began his professional career in the 2012/2013 season when he played in the youth team of Baloncesto Sevilla, which was in the ACB/Liga Endesa league. The boy improved enormously with every game and was appointed to the first team. He scored his first point against Spartak on February 20, 2013, and that was just the beginning of great things to come.
The Latvian basketball player announced his intention to qualify for the National Basketball Federation’s draft on April 28, 2014, and the interest of the Oklahoma City Thunder was great, who sent a scout to Europe just for him. There were high hopes that Kristaps Porzingis was already on its way to Sooner State, but just one day before the draft, the unexpected but possible happened.
Kristaps withdrew his name from qualifying for the draft, with his then-agent stating that he felt he needed much more time to develop his game. In addition, he received commendations from one of the league directors, who stated that he was a great talent and would certainly be selected as a better player.
Over time, the NBA Draft 2015 came out and Kristaps Porzingis was selected as the fourth player by the New York Knicks, which made him the best Latvian and Baltic player ever signed in the history of the NBA. Since then he has been on the team and improves his game every season.
Kristaps Porzingis Career Stats And Salary
Kristaps Porzingis has played over 186 games since joining the NBA, averaging 17.8 points per game with a Field Goal percentage of 43.7, a 3-point Field Goal percentage of 36.1, 7.1 rebounds per game with 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game.
The baller earns a base salary of over $5 million, which extends to 2018 and 2019. He owes this to his four-year contract with the New York Knicks for $18 million, which is fully guaranteed.
What is His Injury Stats?
In a sport like basketball, injuries are often a normal event, albeit to varying degrees and under different circumstances. The more serious injuries can result in a player not seeing any NBA action for an extended period of time, which can cause some players to become blunt and have difficulty getting back into shape when they are back on the court, which can ultimately lead to the end of their career. For this reason, the players try to avoid getting injured as much as possible, but if they do get injured, it is not only a cause of concern for them and their team captains but also for us, the fans.
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Kristap’s Porzingis is reportedly feared to miss the entire 2018 NBA season due to a knee injury he sustained in a 103-89 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks on February 6, 2018. Just three minutes after the start of the 2nd quarter, he tore up his ACL in the game when he landed on the foot of Giannis Antetokounmpo after a dunk. With such an injury, the basketball player must be incapacitated for at least 10 months after surgery to fix his knee.
Girlfriend
Apart from his alleged relationship with the actress and model – Abigail Ratchford – Porzingis has never been with or dated anyone in the past, at least not publicly known. We can justifiably claim that he is fully committed to his basketball career, and perhaps too much commitment to women at this point in time could discourage him.
Height, Weight
Basketball is undoubtedly a sport in which height is an immense advantage, and Kristaps Porzingis does not lack this, as it towers above many when standing at a height of 2.21 m or 2.21 m. At this height, he weighs about 109 kg or 240 lbs.
