As Kristaps Porzingis and the Wizards get set to host the Knicks on Friday night, Porzingis was seemingly more candid than ever when discussing how things ended with his former team while talking with Mark Medina of NBA.com.
From the skipped exit interview to his eventual trade request, Porzingis seemed to look back on his time in New York fondly, and perhaps even with some regret as he voiced how much he misses the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden.
“In the moment, I didn’t realize it’s not like that everywhere,” Porzingis told Medina. “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.
“It wasn’t perfect on either side. Phil Jackson was there at the time, and I’m nothing but grateful for him to have the [courage] to draft me with the fourth pick and give me the opportunity to play in New York.”
What would Porzingis do differently if he had another chance when it came to talking with the Knicks, the team that drafted him fourth overall?
“Could I go back and do things differently? For sure, from our side,” Porzingis told Medina. “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.
“I don’t want to go into too much detail, but how things went with the communication wasn’t my style. 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.”
Porzingis didn’t dive into further detail, but shortly after his trade, reports emerged that Porzingis’ brother, Janis, also his agent, wanted a bigger role in the Knicks, including getting jobs for Porzingis’ friends in the organization.
Years later, another report emerged that said Porzingis’ brothers, Martins and Janis, were “a cancer” that resulted in Porzingis being traded multiple times.
Whatever the reason, Porzingis left New York as another hopeful franchise savior that didn’t work out, though in hindsight, he seems to have some desire that it had played out differently.
“It was intense. It’s the biggest stage you can play on,” Porzingis said of his time in New York. “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.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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