It’s been more than a year since Dallas Mavericks’ All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis dressed up for a basketball game. Porzingis already recovered from an ACL injury he suffered in February 2018, but the Mavs’ and he are taking the cautious approach and decided he won’t play until the next season.
While he fully understands the reasons behind this, the 23-year-old Latvian is still having it “very, very tough” when it comes to sitting out games.
“Oh my god, that’s the hardest thing for me to wake up on game days, go through shootaround with the team and then have to pick a suit to wear for the game,” – Porzingis told ESPN about his rehab process. “I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ It’s the toughest thing for me. I hate my suits. Not that I hate the suits, but I hate picking them for the game day.”
“It’s so weird that I’m not able to — I am able to, but I’m not playing yet,” – he added. “It’s the game day, and I feel like it’s the game day, but you just pick a suit, and you wear it, and you’re there. And I try to be in the moment when I’m there with the team and help as much as I can without being able to be on the floor, but it’s very, very, very tough. Tougher than I expected.”
Following the ACL tear, which he suffered while playing with the New York Knicks, Kristaps Porzingis decided to take extra time recovering in order to be able to have a longer and more injury-free career. After he was traded to Dallas, Mavericks gladly signed on to this plan in order to have him in the best shape for 2019/20 season in which they aim to get back to the playoffs.
While he won’t play in official games this season, Porzingis resumed all other basketball activities and full 5-on-5 practice.
In two and a half seasons he played in the NBA so far, Porzingis averaged 17.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game.
