Kristaps Porzingis Knew He Would Break The European Bust Stereotype
“Bust? Yea. I’ll bust in your face.” – Kristaps Porzingis
ORLANDO, Fla. - Kristaps Porzingis already knew what people would say about him because of the trail of tall, thin European players who didn’t make it in the NBA. Words such as soft, stiff, project and bust motivated the 7-3 Latvian forward to show he wasn’t and wouldn’t be any of those things. Porzingis would talk to teammates on his Spanish team Baloncesto Sevilla last year during long bus and train rides about proving he was more Dirk Nowitzki than European-born players Darko Milicic, Shawn Bradley or Jan Vesely. Fifteen games into Porzingis’ NBA career, the Knicks‘ rookie is doing just that. Porzingis, 20, is nearly averaging a double-double (13.7 points and 9.1 rebounds) and shattering the stereotype he knew didn’t fit him. “I’m not surprising myself,” Porzingis said. “I knew what I was capable of. A lot of people weren’t expecting much from me right away, so maybe a lot of people are surprised. But I knew what I could do. “Everybody was saying, ‘Project, a few years.’ I will get better in a few years, but I knew I was able to play right now. That was my mentality going into the NBA.” Byars saw quickly that Porzingis was different.Derrick Byars, Porzingis’ teammate and roommate in Sevilla, saw that Porzingis was skilled, agile and athletic with a sweet jump shot. Byars also marveled at Porzingis’ maturity and focus at 19 years old. He would come early and stay late. He was hungry and driven to improve and succeed, and much stronger than anyone thought. “We played against some men and he held his own with his strength, playing against some tough players,” Byars said. “That’s when I really knew. He’s more skilled than these players; he’ll be even scarier once he meets the challenge of the physical part. “Being compared to Shawn Bradley and stuff like that, he laughs at that. We talked about that and he laughs. He’s exceptionally skilled and he’s only going to get better.”
Godzingis. Three Six Latvia. The Reverse Jackie Robinson. You know who we all were? You know who Knicks fans and NBA fans everywhere were? We were this guy:
Just spewing prejudice and stereotypes the minute he was drafted. Failing to judge a man for who he really was and what is ability was. We were all lazy assholes who decided he was gonna be a big white bust because of the other big white busts that came before him. Sure, there was Dirk and Pau. But there have been so many busts in between those guys and Kristaps it was only natural to assume. The Darko’s. The Frederic Weis’s, The Maciej Lampe’s. The Bargnani’s. The Shawn Bradley’s. And all along Three Six Latvia was very aware of the comparisons, and very aware he was much much better than those guys.
Had we known he had corn rows, maybe things would have been different. If we had known his favorite movie was Friday and that he loved rap music, perhaps we would have viewed him differently. Had we gotten to know Kristaps, maybe we wouldnt have booed Kristaps. It was Reverse Racism at its finest. And now that we do know KP, well we’re basically like Bertier and Julius Campbell in Remember The Titans:
A bunch of asshole Knicks fans and a glorious, silky smooth, badass 7 foot 3 Latvian dude who are best of friends. Dirk and Pau paved the way but the guys who followed in their footsteps were so shitty they set back NBA race relations about 50 years. Until now. Now Godzingis re-blazes the trail. Breaking down stereotypes everywhere. The Reverse Jackie Robinson.