Kristaps Porziņģis

Entering the 2012–13 ACB season, Sevilla had hired Aíto García Reneses, who previously worked with the likes of Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernández.[2] On 29 September 2012, Porziņģis got the opportunity to make an appearance with the club's first team, but was allowed to play just a minute. Sevilla took a tremendous loss to CB Murcia.[10] Following a return to the youth categories of the club at the Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet, he went back to competing for the senior squad. On 16 January 2013, he logged only four minutes against Spartak Saint Petersburg in the EuroCup, scoring no points, but contributing one rebound and one assist.[11] He scored his first basket for the senior team on 20 February 2013, in a rematch with Spartak. Porziņģis said, "I was very nervous at the beginning: I wanted to do well and not pick up turnovers. At the same time, I got a lot of confidence with players of my same age. That allowed me to play better with the first team and practice with more confidence."[2] On 4 May 2013, he posted a season-high 7 points with the senior team, hitting two of three shots vs Bilbao Basket in ACB competition.[12]

Porziņģis opened his second season on Sevilla's main squad strong in his third game against the EuroLeague team Laboral Kutxa, leading them to a 20-point ACB victory on 2 November 2013.[2] He notched a career-high 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks.[13] He broke his scoring record once more against Real Madrid on 30 November 2013, nearly leading his team to a victory.[2][13] Against the very same team on 6 April 2014, Porziņģis scored a career-high 20 points, nailing 2 three-pointers.[13] Despite his team losing, he began to trend on social media because of his performance. He said, "It was a very good game for me on offense. I didn't get any rebounds in that game. I had a good shooting night, but could have helped more on defense. Still, fans in Madrid gave me a nice ovation when I fouled out and I liked that a lot."[2] On 25 May, he got the chance to face his idol Justin Doellman of Barcelona, whom he called the "best power forward in Spanish basketball". He scored 14 points against Doellman's team.[2][13] In May 2014, Porziņģis was selected in the ACB All-Young Players Team of the 2013–14 season.[14]

In April, Porziņģis declared himself eligible for the 2014 NBA draft.[15] Before and after he made the decision, he drew interest from National Basketball Association (NBA) teams such as the Orlando Magic, who held the 12th overall pick, and traveled to Europe to scout him. The Oklahoma City Thunder reportedly were certainly going to select him with the 21st pick in the case that he remained. Porziņģis was considered an unfinished product and a top-15 draft pick. According to DraftExpress.com, he was the fourth-youngest prospect in their top-100 rankings.[3][16] Shortly before the day of the draft, however, he withdrew his name. Porziņģis's agent Andy Miller released the information to ESPN, saying that his client did not feel prepared to become a part of the NBA and wanted to develop his skills until the 2015 draft. One of the league's general managers commented on him, "He's very talented. He wasn't ready, but we would've seriously considered drafting him anyway. If he continues to develop his game, get more minutes and his body develops, I think he could be a top-five pick in 2015. He has that kind of talent."[17]

Prior to the 2014–15 ACB season, head coach Aíto García Reneses parted ways with Sevilla.[18] On 4 October 2014, against CB 1939 Canarias, Porziņģis made his season debut in the Liga ACB, scoring 3 points in the game. He made his first appearance at the 2014–15 EuroCup on 15 October, vs. EWE Baskets Oldenburg and scored 2 points. However, he had a strong EuroCup performance against Pallacanestro Virtus Roma in the weeks that followed, in which he contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. He recorded a double-double in mid-November in a win over Estudiantes, adding 11 points and 11 rebounds. On 11 February 2015, he scored a season-high 19 points against the EuroCup's Turów Zgorzelec. He tied this record on 18 April 2015, vs. Bàsquet Manresa in the ACB.[19] On 15 April 2015, Porziņģis was named the winner of the EuroCup Rising Star Award of the season.[20] One month later, he repeated in the ACB All-Young Players Team, after avoiding the relegation with Baloncesto Sevilla.[21]

Porziņģis during 2015 NBA Summer League

On 16 April 2015, Porziņģis entered the 2015 NBA draft, according to a report from agent Andy Miller.[22] After gaining a season more of experience, he became known as a lottery pick and a potential top-5 selection. He drew interest from teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the No. 2 pick and had several personnel that had seen Porziņģis play in Spain.[23] He was compared with players such as Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki, but also Darko Miličić, a former lottery selection widely considered a draft bust.[24] Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote, "Porziņģis has an innate awareness about the way the American public sees a young, long European teenager. He comes to the NBA with the full understanding that popular basketball culture declares him guilty until proven innocent of the basketball crimes of Darko Miličić and Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Andrea Bargnani. He's considered a stiff, a bust, a blown lottery pick until he doesn't become one..."[25]

On 25 June 2015, Porziņģis was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.[26][27] He was booed by some New York fans upon being drafted, but vowed to change the fans' opinions on him from negative to positive.[28] On the same night, the New York Knicks traded for Porziņģis' teammate from Sevilla, Willy Hernangómez, who was originally drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as a 35th overall pick.[29] Porziņģis became the highest drafted Latvian and Baltic player in NBA history.

Porziņģis on 31 October 2015, in his third NBA game

On 30 July 2015, Porziņģis signed his rookie-scale contract with the Knicks.[30] On 28 October 2015, he scored 16 points in his NBA debut, leading New York to a 122–97 season-opening win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He was 3 of 11 from the field and 9 of 12 from the line.[31] On 21 November 2015, he had 24 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead the Knicks to a 107–102 victory over the Houston Rockets, becoming the first 20-year-old to post such a stat line in a single game since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992–93.[32]

He became the first rookie to reach those totals since Tim Duncan in 1998.[33] On 3 December 2015, he was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in October and November. He ranked third among all rookies in scoring (13.7 ppg) and was second in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and blocked shots (1.89 bpg) for October and November.[33] He went on to claim Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honours for December and January as well.[34][35] On 12 February 2016, he scored 30 points for Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge.[36][37] On 23 March 2016, he tied a career high with 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 115–107 win over the Chicago Bulls. He was one point short of becoming the first rookie since Patrick Ewing to put up 30 points and 10 rebounds in one game for the Knicks.[38]

Porziņģis appeared in 72 of the Knicks' 82 games in 2015–16, missing the final seven games of the season due to a right shoulder strain.[39] He finished with averages of 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.9 blocks per game. Porziņģis finished second in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting behind winner Karl-Anthony Towns,[40] and earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.[41]

On 16 November 2016, Porziņģis scored a career-high 35 points in a 105–102 win over the Detroit Pistons.[42] On 11 December 2016, he recorded 26 points, 12 rebounds and a career high-tying seven blocks in a 118–112 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[43] On 19 January 2017, he came off the bench for the first time in his NBA career after returning from a four-game absence due to a sore left Achilles tendon. He subsequently scored 15 points in a 113–110 loss to the Washington Wizards.[44] During the 2017 All-Star Weekend, Porziņģis played for Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge and won the Skills Challenge.[45]

In the Knicks' season opener the following season, on 19 October 2017, Porziņģis had 31 points and 12 rebounds in a 105–84 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.[46] On 30 October 2017, he scored a career-high 38 points in a 116–110 win over the Denver Nuggets.[47] Less than a week later, on 5 November, Porziņģis set a new career high with 40 points in a 108–101 win over the Indiana Pacers.[48] Porziņģis was subsequently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, 30 October through Sunday, 5 November.[49] Porziņģis would record the best start to a season for Knicks player, earning 300 points through 10 games, two more than Bernard King had to open the 1984–85 season,[50][51] and his performances continued, where, on 23 January 2018, he was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve.[52]

However, on 6 February 2018, in a 103–89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks,[53] Porziņģis tore his left ACL.[54] He was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season.

In October 2018, the Knicks decided against signing Porziņģis to a rookie extension, a move that would give New York an extra $10 million in cap space in the summer of 2019 while making Porziņģis a restricted free agent in the offseason.[55] Due to recovering from his ACL injury, Porziņģis did not play for the Knicks to begin the 2018–19 season.

On 31 January 2019, after a meeting with the Knicks left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded,[56] Porziņģis was traded alongside Trey Burke, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., an unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick, and an additional top-ten protected 2023 first round draft pick.[57][58] He sat out the remainder of the 2018–19 season, healing from his ACL injury. On 12 July, Porziņģis agreed to re-sign with the Mavericks on a five-year maximum contract worth $158 million.[59][60]

Porziņģis debuted for the Mavericks on 23 October 2019, posting 23 points and 4 rebounds in a 108–100 win over the Washington Wizards.[61] On 31 January 2020, he scored a then season-high 35 points, along with 12 rebounds in a 128–121 loss to the Houston Rockets.[62] On 3 February, that season-high would be surpassed with a 38-point, 12-rebound performance in a 112–103 win over the Indiana Pacers.[63] Just two days later, Porziņģis would follow that up with 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 121–107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, before leaving the game with a broken nose.[64][65] On 1 March, Porziņģis matched his than season-high 38 points, along with 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, in a 111–91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[66] Three days later, he registered 34 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks in a 127–123 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans, becoming the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to have consecutive 30-point, 5-block games.[67][68] On 31 July, Porzingis recorded a season-high 39 points, as well as 16 rebounds, in a 153–149 overtime loss to the Houston Rockets. This was the Mavericks’ first game in the Orlando bubble, returning from a four-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[69]

In March 2019, it was publicly revealed that a woman accused Porziņģis of raping her at the Sky building in February 2018, hours after he tore his ACL. The woman reportedly told police she waited more than a year to come forward because she had discussed getting a $68,000 payout from Porziņģis to keep quiet. Porziņģis' attorney, Roland G. Riopelle, publicly denied the claim, and said he had previously referred the case to federal authorities due to the "accuser's extortionate demands".[85]