“Us three brothers – me, Janis, and Martins – we made a bet. We all sat down and said we were going to grow our hair out. But after a month or two, they cut their hair. But I was too young to make the decision about whether I would get a haircut, so mine just kept growing. And it was so long that I decided I should start rocking those cornrows.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“For the triangle to really work, everybody needs to be on the same page and know how to play it.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’m really focused on getting better as a player.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“A good team needs time to play together.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I just like boxing.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I like the triangle. My first season, the whole first season, we played nothing but the triangle, so I know it pretty well.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“The only thing I focus on is just winning. Once we win, everyone remembers a winner. That’s what I’m focused on.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I love New York.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“No one’s comfortable with losing.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Nobody wants to be losing, especially in New York. It’s extremely tough. That’s how it is.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’ll keep growing as a player, keep working out, trying to become what I want to become.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I learned English from watching American movies and American series. And you’d watch the movie the first time and not understand anything. Then you’d watch it again, and you’d start understanding more and more, and that’s how I learned English.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I have ‘Friday.’ I have ‘Dinner For Schmucks.’ And I have ‘John Wick.’ There are others too I can’t think of now, but those are my go-to movies.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“One thing as a leader – you don’t say something to say something. When you actually see something and need to talk to a guy, that’s when you say it. It will come naturally.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I love Barcelona. Barcelona is a very, very nice city.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I love playing ping pong.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I try to eat as healthy as possible and try to put some weight on.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I loved the Lakers in ’09 and 2010. I used to get up early with my brother Janis, and we watched them win the titles.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Until that moment comes when the ball comes to me every time, I have to find a way to be effective with offensive rebounds, play hard defense, blocking shots.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I love the triangle. It’s a great offense if you execute it well.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“You always gotta find a little bit of time for the girls, right?”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“One day, I’d like to get a quadruple double, points, assists, rebounds and blocks.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I know my game. I know what I need to get better at and be better at.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I believe whenever you’re winning and doing the right thing, you’re stats will be fine, and everything else will come in place.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Before I got to the NBA, I always flew coach – it was the worst time of my life. I remember being 14 or 15, and it was such a struggle to fit into those seats.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“It’s tough to find time to get rest.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Believe it or not, I’ve never been on the subway.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I knew there were going to be boos if the Knicks drafted me. That’s how New York fans are.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I know if I play hard and show that I want to be a Knick, I know the fans will accept me.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I really wanted to get drafted by the Knicks, and it was a dream come true. I wasn’t even hearing the boos that night. I was just having a special moment with my family, hugging them.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“New York City is crazy; there are people everywhere. New York is the best city in the world, I think. You have everything there.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“You need a long-term coach to be able to win.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“If we can win games, it doesn’t matter who is scoring.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“When I have difficulties, I will not complain.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“If we’re winning, that’s all that matters to me. If we’re winning, I’ll be happy. And that can help me grow.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Playing in New York, there’s a lot of pressure, but me and some Europeans like the pressure.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I think American fans, they know more college guys than guys overseas.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I want to be a part of this organization, and I know the fans are a little harsh sometimes, but that’s how it is here in New York, and I’m ready for it.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I think Carmelo is a great player. He makes players around him better. Whatever thing, whatever Carmelo wants me to do, I will do that out on the court just to prove that I’m worthy enough to be on the court with him, starting with the dirty jobs – just getting rebounds, getting shots, getting blocks, and just running the court.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I heard New York fans and people in New York are hard-working fans, so they want to see players work hard on the court. That’s the first thing I’ve got to do.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“The first day I got drafted, I felt the fans were really passionate about basketball, and there was going to be a lot of pressure.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“My older brothers, they know how to keep my head straight and be thinking about what I need to do on the court. Now I have that in me, that mentality, that I want to get better and better every game. Thanks to them, they showed me the way.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“The fans will talk about whatever. But when you’re not doing your best, you’re losing, you can’t let all that get to your head. You focus and try to play hard. The fans, they will respect you for that.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“With my height, I probably wouldn’t be able to make money playing pingpong, but I would just have fun with it. The table is too low for me.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“New Yorkers aren’t that friendly, but they’re still pretty friendly, and they’re hardworking, passionate people.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“That’s one thing about Americans: They know how to have fun.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Low ceilings, low doors. I hate that. Oh my God, it’s the worst. This world is too small for me.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“As a kid, I used to love roller coasters. I love adrenaline, love going faster.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I always try to stay aggressive. I always use my strengths and always work on my weaknesses to get better. That’s just who I am.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I pick up languages fast.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“That’s something that I gotta prove – I don’t like being labeled as ‘soft.’ I’m not soft.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I learned Spanish in five or six months.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’m a good student. Just trying to learn as much as possible is how I picked up so many languages.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I want to be in such a basketball city like New York.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’m a student of the game.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I will try to make my career as long as possible. For me, it’s not about money, so I just love playing the game.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“The first year was kind of hard for me. There was just too much attention, too much going on, and I really just wanted to focus on basketball.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I have to do a better job of picking the spots where I want to attack and picking the right moment when I need to attack.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I think that’s the type of game I’m better at – faster paced, just moving the ball more around.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I want to have a long career in the NBA. First, I want to be an All-Star, and hopefully one day I can win a ring with the New York Knicks.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Don’t worry about me; my moment will come. I’ll be ready for it. I will work hard, and whenever it’s gonna come, whenever the coaches are gonna trust me, I’m gonna be on court and give 100 percent.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Of course the defenders are trying to be physical with me. They look at me, 7-3, skinny, they try to be physical.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“At the end of the day the thing I want most of all is winning.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“We knew the European players that went to the NBA and had great careers, and we knew the ones that went and had terrible careers or finished early. We were prepared for a lot of criticism.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I don’t love the off-court stuff. But I know it’s necessary.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“When I was eighteen and I won the European Championship – that’s when I realized I had an opportunity to play in the NBA one day.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“It’s a dream come true for me to be an idol for those kids. One little moment from my life that I spend with that kid, he might remember that for the rest of his life, that he met me that day when he was 10 years old.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I listen to a lot of Drake and Meek Mill before games.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Maybe in Latvian one day I’ll rap a little bit, but definitely not in English.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“We’re a basketball family.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Some girls are intimidated by my height, obviously. But a lot of girls do like it, so that’s cool.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I would like to dunk on Shaq.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I just really love the game. I’m very hungry, and I’m looking forward to playing in the best league in the world.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“When I’m playing in a close game, I’m out on the floor only trying to help the team win.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’m adding moves to my post game. I’m really working on staying low. I’m working on my strength overall, especially my legs. That’s going to help me defensively as well.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“It’s not a good feeling when you get booed. But I don’t want to be good because somebody booed me. I want to be great player because that’s the way I am.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’m never really happy with anything I do.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“My quiet place is in the gym. When I feel like going to church, it’s for me the MSG training facility and working on my game.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Basketball is pretty big in Latvia.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“You can never really relax until you’ve signed that contract with your team.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“I’ve got that European swagger.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“Whatever people want to call me, I’m cool with, except ‘Zinger.’”
― Kristaps Porzingis
“A coach I had in Spain, Scott Roth, he used to call me Zinger. He would yell at me all the time, ‘Zinger!’ It’s just stuck in my head that I don’t like that name.”
― Kristaps Porzingis
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