After Wednesday’s Latvia-Greece matchup in the opener of the Acropolis tournament, Kristaps Porzingis‘ post-game press conference included a question about a possible return to Europe to finish out his career, writes Giorgos Kyriakidis of BasketNews. The Hawks‘ big man, who began playing professionally with Sevilla in 2012, seems open to the idea.
“Sure, sure, why not?” Porzingis responded. “I mean, I haven’t really given it too much thought, but just seeing some of the clubs here in Greece, you know, the atmosphere here for the games and stuff would be a really, really unbelievable atmosphere to play in.”
Pressed about the idea of signing in Greece, he said, “Possibly, possibly, but I would have to look at everything and … and who knows, who knows. I love the fans here and I love the rivalry they have here, so who knows.”
Porziginis didn’t have a great showing in Wednesday’s tune-up for EuroBasket, as he was limited to seven points and four rebounds in a little more than 19 minutes. Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the matchup with 25 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes in a 104-86 victory.
“It was tough. It was a tough game for us,” Porzingis admitted. “Giannis had an unbelievable first half. We could have done a better job with him, to be fair, but today was just a tough day for us, and we look forward to bouncing back tomorrow (against Italy).”
It’s significant that Porzingis is back on the court after a dealing with a mysterious illness – later described as post-viral syndrome – that plagued him from February through the second round of the playoffs. He stated in a July interview that he took time to rest after Boston was eliminated and he was back to feeling “fantastic.”
Any talk of playing in Europe is probably a few years away, as Porzingis is only 30 and remains a very effective NBA player when healthy. He’s expected to have a huge role with Atlanta this season before entering free agency next summer.
Kyriakidis notes that because of Porzingis’ long injury history, this marks the first time he’s been able to take part in a major international competition since leading Latvia to a fifth-place finish in EuroBasket 2017. He talked today about the similarities between FIBA tournaments and the NBA playoffs.
“Playoffs is pretty similar because every game is life or death, and even now in the preparation you can feel the intensity. It’s going to ramp up even more once we actually start the tournament,” Porzingis said. “So I think these kind of games are fun, not just for the players but for the fans, for the atmosphere, and there’s gonna be no better place to play these kind of games than at home in Latvia. So we look forward to it.”