Kristaps Porzingis wistful about his days with Knicks
Wizards center Kristaps Porzingis (6) shoots and is fouled by Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, right, during the second half of an NBA game Monday in Washington. Credit: AP/Terrance Williams
WASHINGTON — Four years ago this month, Kristaps Porzingis’ run in New York came to an end. A trade finally brought a peaceful conclusion to the chaotic tenure of what had seemed to be a franchise-shifting lottery pick.
But still, as the Knicks readied to take on the Wizards at Capital One Arena on Friday night, the specter of the 7-3 former No. 4 overall draft pick remains hard to ignore.
After sitting out Wednesday night’s game with sore ribs, he was back in the lineup to face the Knicks. His focus has been on his health and play, and he seems to have found a home in Washington after high expectations were never quite fulfilled in New York and Dallas. A chance to play the Knicks stirred up old memories.
Those memories of New York are bright for Porzingis despite the knee injury that sidelined him 48 games into the 2017-18 season and kept him out of action for the entire following season. He was traded to Dallas on Jan. 31, 2019.
“It was intense,” Porzingis said in an interview with NBA.com. “It’s the biggest stage you can play on. You go from being loved by everybody to [the opposite] all of a sudden. I’m not going to lie. I missed it. But that’s the reality. That’s what made me think this is not going to be forever, so I better figure out who I am without that.''
What he has learned is that he misses it.
“Just playing in the Garden, getting that love from the fans and the support,'' he said. "It made me appreciate every person that asked for a picture or an autograph. I appreciated that way more when I was hurt.”
Porzingis was averaging 22.7 points for the Knicks when he suffered the torn ACL that kept him out of action for a season and a half. In Washington, he has had almost identical numbers.
“I think the big thing is his health,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s proven when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best players in the league. He’s got a very unusual skill set. Long, can shoot, put it on the floor, he can post up. The rim protection, he looks like he’s moving a lot better.
“So guys like that, it’s the modern NBA. It spreads the floor out, opens it up for other guys to do a lot of things in terms of cutting, dribble drive and then it’s a second shot.”
When Porzingis joined the Knicks, he quickly became the second star alongside Carmelo Anthony. But during Phil Jackson’s tenure as president, even stars were not immune to jabs from the franchise leadership.
Due for a pricey contract extension, his relationship with the Knicks grew more contentious until the new front office swung the trade.
“Could I go back and do things differently?” Porzingis continued in the NBA.com interview. “For sure, from our side. I was hurt. If I kept playing, it would’ve been completely different. I’m young and listening to people and what they’re telling me on what I should do with my career. You don’t know any better. That’s how things went at that time. I can only say really good things about the organization because I enjoyed it so much playing there in New York and playing in front of those fans.
“It was a dream come true. In the moment, I didn’t realize it’s not like that everywhere. New York is a special place. Madison Square Garden is the most special place I had ever played in. But at that moment, I thought it was like that on every team. I had the most fun playing in the Garden.”
The ending was basically cemented after he skipped out on his exit interview in 2017, making clear his dissatisfaction with the franchise.
“I don’t want to go into too much detail, but how things went with the communication wasn’t my style,” he said. “My style would be different with whatever needed to be done. Maybe it was nothing. My style would’ve been different either way. But I was wrong. I was going with the flow.''
Asked specifically about the exit interview, he said: “You think I came up with that? . . . If I didn’t get hurt in New York, you never know how things could’ve gone. But I can’t keep living with this feeling of regret. I have to keep moving forward. I’m really happy here in Washington now. I’m focused on now and what’s coming ahead.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
