Kristaps Porzingis

Kristaps Porziņģis is a professional basketball player from Latvia. As of 2024, he plays in the National Basketball Association for the Boston Celtics. He was drafted into the NBA in 2015 by the New York Knicks. He was later traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He has also played for the Dallas Mavericks.

Before his NBA career, he played for the Spanish basketball club Sevilla. He was named an NBA All-Star in 2018.

Player Profile, Personal Life, and Early Career

Kristaps Porziņģis was born on August 2, 1995, in Liepaja, Latvia. He is one of the tallest players in the NBA at 221 cm. His weight was last listed at 109 kg. A right-handed player, he plays power forward and center.

His parents had a background in basketball. His older brother is Janis Porzingis who also played basketball professionally.

Porzingis started playing basketball at the tender age of 6. By the time he was 15 years old, an agent began sending videos of his basketball games to clubs and professional teams all around Europe. He eventually joined Cajasol Sevilla in 2012.

Career

He declared for the 2014 NBA draft but entered the draft the next year. In the 2015 NBA draft, the New York Knicks selected him as the fourth overall pick. In the entire history of the league, Porzingis is the highest-drafted Baltic and Latvian player.

In the 2015 to 2016 Season, his performance got him into the NBA All-Rookie First Team and placed him second in the voting for the NBA Rookie of the Year award. During the next season, he scored a career-high 35 points.

When he scored 40 points in a game against the Indiana Pacers in the 2017 to 2018 Season, Porzingis became the sole player in the league to record over 40 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 2 three-pointers from 1983 to 1984. He was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an injury.

In 2018, he was named an NBA All-Star.

In 2019, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Other players who were traded at the same time included Courtney Lee, Trek Burke, and Tim Hardaway. He debuted for the team in October of that year.

In October 2020, he had surgery on his torn lateral meniscus. This led him to miss the first 9 games of the season. In 2021, the Mavericks saw a change in coaches from Rick Carlisle to Jason Kidd. In February 2022, Porzingis was traded to the Washington Wizards.

In 2023, he signed with the Boston Celtics.

Career Highlights

• 2018 - NBA All-Star
• 2016 - NBA All-Rookie First Team
• 2015 - EuroCup Rising Star
• 2014, 2015 - ACB All-Young Players Team
• 2017 - EuroBasket blocks leader