BOSTON — Kristaps Porzingis has seen it all in his nine NBA years. A roller coaster can’t quite describe the journey from booed to beloved to injured to villainized to embraced to injured to embarrassed to forgotten to center stage of the NBA Finals.
And it started, appropriately, when Knicks fans jeered him on draft night in 2015 — a moment he used as motivation to prove the detractors wrong.
“I was a kid full of just ignorance and ready to take on the world,” Porzingis said in an interview with The Post. “Which is adequate for those kind of years. But now I’m much more mature and have a different kind of mindset. And I’m in a perfect situation for me which is what I wanted from the beginning — to play on the biggest stage for a championship. Nothing else.”
Porzingis is back in the spotlight Thursday for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the X factor of the series with storylines percolating about his health, failed stint in Dallas and an alleged rocky relationship with Luka Doncic. The center is returning from a 10-game absence because of a calf strain and the prevailing sentiment is the Celtics are unbeatable if he’s at 100 percent.
Without Porzingis, they’re still probably favored against the Mavericks. With him? Boston’s frontcourt issues, its lone weak spot during a steamroll through the Eastern Conference, are theoretically alleviated.
We’ll see.
Porzingis doesn’t even know what to expect after sitting five-plus weeks.
“It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this,” he said. “I did everything I could to prepare for it and we’ll see [in Game 1].”
Unfortunately, Porzingis returning from an injury is hardly new. He’s accustomed to the process. Ailments and surgeries sabotaged his stints in New York and Dallas. The difference in Boston is he’s a complementary piece — the fourth- or even fifth-best player — and his presence merely enhances the ride, rather than drives it.
For a player who burst on the scene with a “Unicorn” nickname and NYC’s full attention, accepting that role required humility. And experience.
He now sees the videos on his phone of Knicks fans celebrating victories with gusto on 33rd St. In another world not hard to imagine, they would’ve been cheering for Porzingis. Instead, the hero is Jalen Brunson — Porzingis’s former Mavericks teammate — and the former Unicorn is watching with amusement.
“New Yorkers are crazy in the videos outside the arena when the Knicks win a game,” Porzingis said. “It’s one of my favorite things to watch, you know what I mean?”
“Playing there is insane. I can compare it to here [in Boston]. These are two very strong fan bases. And I know how JB is enjoying, for sure. Just being the main guy and taking that team that far — it’s got to be a special feeling for him.”
Porzingis saw those videos this season at 28 years old with a full beard. When a player on the Knicks, he was a baby-faced teenager with peach fuzz, zero muscle definition and a chip permanently attached to his shoulder. He was battling those boos on draft night. He was battling the demons of Euro draft busts. He was battling a highly dysfunctional organization. He was battling immaturity. He was navigating trade rumors and Phil Jackson’s beef with Carmelo Anthony.
practice ahead of the NBA Finals. Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
By Porzingis’ fourth season at MSG — with an All-Star appearance and ACL surgery in the rearview — he desperately wanted out. The Knicks — with president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry spearheading clandestine negotiations — were also preparing to get rid of Porzingis before his formal trade demand in 2019.
Porzingis was absolutely correct to demand a relocation, by the way. Some of his best years were getting dragged down by the Knicks’ mess. He had four coaches in four years. The team was propping up pipe dreams and delusions while losing 65 games. That was the season David Fizdale compared Lance Thomas to Draymond Green and Emmanuel Mudiay’s rim attacking to Dwyane Wade’s.
But there were aspects of the discontent Porzingis handled incorrectly. He’ll admit that today. And the Knicks jumped on all of the mistakes to create a villain at the Garden.
“It definitely helped me,” Porzingis said Wednesday. “You find out it’s easier when it’s all positive. It’s tougher when things don’t go smooth. But that’s when you learn even more, you know? I would not change the good or the bad moments for anything. It just made me who I am now and prepared me for this moment.”
Porzingis was talking about his stints in New York and Dallas, the latter of which is now among the most prevalent storylines of the NBA Finals. According to former Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons, Porzingis and Doncic “had actual beef.”
Both players denied that. But they acknowledged their on-court fit was poor.
“It wasn’t just perfect for us playing together, it didn’t work out, that’s it. We moved on,” Porzingis said. “There’s no, like, ill will from their side, for sure from my side. I don’t think there should be.”
That was another phase in Porzingis’s career, among the missed opportunities. The next chapter — the NBA Finals — could tie it all together in a positive bow.
“I’ve been through a lot,” Porzingis said before pausing. “I’ve been through a lot in my career.”