ramtour420 wrote:Translated from a Latvian media interview

Nov 3, 2017
Ian Begley
ESPN Staff Writer
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Kristaps Porzingis' brother suggested in an interview published by a Latvian news organization that the New York Knicks forward would not decide to sign an extension solely because the Knicks can offer him the most money.

"The most important question here is this: What do you really want to achieve in your career?" Janis Porzingis said in an interview in Latvian with Sportacentrs, according to a translation by Eurohoops.net. "Because money -- if Kristaps performs at least on his normal level -- is gonna come. We are more focused on some other values and not just to quickly sign a new contract so we can collect the money. That's definitely not our goal, so we won't be feverishly counting minutes or counting points. You can't escape the reality, and the Knicks must also see that.

"From their point of view, Kristaps is the focal point at the moment, so you cannot upset him much, or otherwise, at the end of the season, he will say, 'It's not so cool here.' The second question is: Who is the New York audience coming to watch now? To a large extent, it's Kristaps. So the organization has to take that into account."

Kristaps Porzingis, 22, is in his third NBA season. The 7-foot-3 star is averaging 27.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in seven games.

He is eligible to sign a five-year rookie extension starting this summer that is worth between 25 and 30 percent of the salary cap (a projected $157 million to $188 million in total). If he wanted to become an unrestricted free agent, Porzingis would have to play his fifth season with the Knicks on a qualifying offer, which would be for $7.5 million -- significantly less annual money than he could earn via an extension.

Janis Porzingis, who works as a representative for his brother under Andy Miller, Porzingis' primary agent, declined comment when reached Thursday.

In the interview with Sportacentrs published Wednesday, Janis Porzingis also suggested that his brother isn't thinking about an extension at this point.

"First, it's a long time before signing a new deal. Second, there are so many things that can happen in the season, so it's a waste of time thinking about it now," Janis Porzingis said, according to a translation on Eurohoops.net. "He needs to be healthy and play his game. And even that is conditional since we know that (Joel) Embiid was recently awarded a maximum contract for 30 games."

Janis Porzingis also shed light on his brother's decision to skip his exit meeting with former team president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills at the end of last season. Porzingis skipped the meeting over frustration and drama surrounding the organization.

"[Skipping the exit interview] wasn't an emotional decision," Janis Porzingis said, according to the translation from Eurohoops.net. "It wasn't a spontaneous action. We had been thinking about it for a long time, and it was considered an honest, well-thought decision we came up with together. It was a logical next step for us, without which we would've been in one situation, but now after we did it, we are in another."

Janis Porzingis also suggested that Carmelo Anthony, who has since been traded to Oklahoma City, could have done more as a leader to prevent some of the issues that were bothering Porzingis. Anthony took the high road amid direct and indirect criticism from Jackson and amid consistent trade rumors.

"It's interesting how many people who are even somehow involved in all of this have criticized it afterward as something so unprofessional. Just look at Melo, how he is handling things," Janis Porzingis said, according to the Eurohoops.net translation. "And I'm thinking, wait a minute. In reality, if he, for once, decided to fight for something, we wouldn't be in this situation and Kristaps wouldn't be forced to take all the damage on himself. It wasn't done for some personal interest or ambitions or dislike for someone, it was for the sake of overall peace.

"It should have been a task for the team's leaders, but Melo and people around him never tried to change anything."

The relationship between Porzingis and the organization fractured in the offseason after Porzingis' skipped exit meeting and the Knicks talked with other teams about potential Porzingis trades.

When asked about any lingering issues between him and the organization earlier this season, Porzingis has said that he's focused on this season and doesn't want to comment on the past.

Mills, who is now the team president, and general manager Scott Perry both attended practice on Thursday but declined comment on the matter. Head coach Jeff Hornacek said he sees no lingering issue between Porzingis and the organization, and that there is no sign that Porzingis is unhappy.

"That's the past. We aren't worried about that," the coach said. "We started new this year, and we're moving forward. That's all.

"I think KP has been great so far for us this year," he said. "He's being a leader on the court and off the court."

Few interesting snippets here. First of all , what a dick Janis is. But we knew that already, this just proves it further. This makes it obvious that it wasn't the Knicks FO who did not extend KP, it was his brothers business decision. So lets put to rest the idea that KP wanted to be here and informed the Mavs about signing the QO because he did not want to be moved from NY. Thats a bunch of baloney. Another thing is how Janis threw Melo under the bus. Now I am not a fan of Carmelo, but thats still a dick move right there. Another fun fact: its true that they have been trying to trade him for a while now. Lets just stop saying that they put the info about having explored other avenues of trading him just to save face after the fact. Thats BS. This FO not only has gotten us a great return for this "goofy motherphucker" but they have done so without letting the whole league know. So in conclusion my favorite video of the last coupla days

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/MichaelRapaport/status/1091163284927967232

dude deserves a f’g oscar.

Knicksfan wrote:Also a very telling quote from Janis:

He needs to be healthy and play his game. And even that is conditional since we know that (Joel) Embiid was recently awarded a maximum contract for 30 games."

This is why Dallas should really be worried. We all thought that it would be logical that a player coming from a serious injury will be worried about contract security. But Janis and Kristaps are operating in the line of thought that they have the most thing for the franchise: the player that sells tickets and merchandise. So they are acting with the belief that they are fully in control, that since Kristaps is such a vital aspect for a team, that they have all the power. Injuries don’t matter to them because they have seen in this league that players will get paid even if they are injured.

They are really playing with fire.

This makes understandable their decision to sit Kristaps out the whole year. Deep down they must be a little worried about coming back too soon and messing their plan. So it’s a better business move for them to rest and only worry about next season.

Is is really unfortunate that they let Kristaps’ quick success get in their heads and mess with their view of NBA business. While it is fair that a player and his team make decisions thinking about what’s best for the player, this interview reveals a brother agent who is operating under the belief that the most important asset a team can have is the player, so the player holds full control over the franchise no matter what. To think that they got to this point with Kristaps’ fragile health and lack of dominant play for a long extended period highlights a level of delusion that is really dangerous for them and could all blow up in their faces if this recovery goes wrong or if they have to face another injury.

I honestly didn’t like the trade at first because a team rebuilding trading their young face of the franchise, who was rehabbing to return soon and lead a young core to relevance again, it just didn’t make sense. And with the Knicks, things that don’t seem to make sense always point at a mistake. But this honestly seems like a really bad situation that had started to become troublesome and NY decided to do damage control before things got out of proportion through the media. Even if it still stings, management did the right thing and should get bonus points for getting this done without alerting the media.

I was really hopeful with Kristaps because he seemed like the talented, intelligent player that could’ve owned NY with his great play, his good off-court act and possibly being the leader of a young team that would work hard to become a winning team again. But after this situation, Kristaps and his brother represent what’s so wrong about the NBA today: players start believing they are god-like, they are above the team and the sport because they sell tickets and jerseys so they control things. It’s not about the city or the team, but the name in the back that makes everything move. This is why every player of this era demands a trade or tries to play together with their friends and whine about everything through the media. This is what is killing the sport in the eyes of the fans.

The unicorn wasn’t one after all. We thought he was a really unique player. Truth is, he is more of the same and he represents the player of this era. And honestly, that’s not a good look.

StarksEwing1 wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:

Knicksfan wrote:Also a very telling quote from Janis:

He needs to be healthy and play his game. And even that is conditional since we know that (Joel) Embiid was recently awarded a maximum contract for 30 games."

This is why Dallas should really be worried. We all thought that it would be logical that a player coming from a serious injury will be worried about contract security. But Janis and Kristaps are operating in the line of thought that they have the most thing for the franchise: the player that sells tickets and merchandise. So they are acting with the belief that they are fully in control, that since Kristaps is such a vital aspect for a team, that they have all the power. Injuries don’t matter to them because they have seen in this league that players will get paid even if they are injured.

They are really playing with fire.

This makes understandable their decision to sit Kristaps out the whole year. Deep down they must be a little worried about coming back too soon and messing their plan. So it’s a better business move for them to rest and only worry about next season.

Is is really unfortunate that they let Kristaps’ quick success get in their heads and mess with their view of NBA business. While it is fair that a player and his team make decisions thinking about what’s best for the player, this interview reveals a brother agent who is operating under the belief that the most important asset a team can have is the player, so the player holds full control over the franchise no matter what. To think that they got to this point with Kristaps’ fragile health and lack of dominant play for a long extended period highlights a level of delusion that is really dangerous for them and could all blow up in their faces if this recovery goes wrong or if they have to face another injury.

I honestly didn’t like the trade at first because a team rebuilding trading their young face of the franchise, who was rehabbing to return soon and lead a young core to relevance again, it just didn’t make sense. And with the Knicks, things that don’t seem to make sense always point at a mistake. But this honestly seems like a really bad situation that had started to become troublesome and NY decided to do damage control before things got out of proportion through the media. Even if it still stings, management did the right thing and should get bonus points for getting this done without alerting the media.

I was really hopeful with Kristaps because he seemed like the talented, intelligent player that could’ve owned NY with his great play, his good off-court act and possibly being the leader of a young team that would work hard to become a winning team again. But after this situation, Kristaps and his brother represent what’s so wrong about the NBA today: players start believing they are god-like, they are above the team and the sport because they sell tickets and jerseys so they control things. It’s not about the city or the team, but the name in the back that makes everything move. This is why every player of this era demands a trade or tries to play together with their friends and whine about everything through the media. This is what is killing the sport in the eyes of the fans.

The unicorn wasn’t one after all. We thought he was a really unique player. Truth is, he is more of the same and he represents the player of this era. And honestly, that’s not a good look.

Problem with Porzingis is he has done nothing in this league. The players that pulled this before were champions or MVP candidates on their 2nd contract. The level of entitlement from this prick was astronomical yet some still defend him.

Agreed. His resume is one good year and plenty of injury concerns. His main draw is potential but who knows if he will ever reach that or if his "Shawn Bradley" body will hold up. We made the right call IMO

Funny, Kinda thought the same his first year. Hoped he proved me wrong. Gotta say, think he did and will turn out to be a solid All Star. He was playing at another level before the injury. With that said maybe things will work out for us. Dont know who is to blame, if we could have received a better deal(Upon further inspection seems like a no), but it happened. So guess move on. Just hope Dolan sells the team before he screws up all the assets we now have. Won't hold my breath. Also hope Smith plays as well as I thought he would, coming out of college. But not well that it screw up the tank.

MS wrote:I’m not sure how you can fault KP.

He was our franchise player. Look at Lebron, AD, KG, etc. They put their faith in their respective franchises and once you’re signed long term your at the mercy of bad trades, incompetent front offices and turmoil within ownership.

It’s not what you’ve accomplished, it’s what you want to accomplish.

James Dolan, literally had security throw Charles Oakley out of the garden and humiliate him in the media, that’s a Knick legend. How many different coaches have we gone through? Four since he’s been here. Do you trust Steve Mills? Not in the least bit. Do we like Scott Perry, yes. But what he’s he proven? What has he accomplished? What has this franchise accomplished? The answer is nothing. One playoff series win in 15 years.

Do you know how incompetent you have to be to miss the playoffs nearly every year with a built in fan base and media market like NY.

So while I don’t know what KP will accomplish going forward, I know the resumes of everyone in the brain trust has accomplished to date and it’s pretty bare. Fizdale flammed Out in Memphis and his first season is a **** show in NYC. This whole organization is built on potential and what ifs.

So Janis didn’t sabotage anything. Phil signed Noah and Mills signing THJR sabatoged our future. Let’s speak in facts.

Knicksfan wrote:Also a very telling quote from Janis:

He needs to be healthy and play his game. And even that is conditional since we know that (Joel) Embiid was recently awarded a maximum contract for 30 games."

This is why Dallas should really be worried. We all thought that it would be logical that a player coming from a serious injury will be worried about contract security. But Janis and Kristaps are operating in the line of thought that they have the most thing for the franchise: the player that sells tickets and merchandise. So they are acting with the belief that they are fully in control, that since Kristaps is such a vital aspect for a team, that they have all the power. Injuries don’t matter to them because they have seen in this league that players will get paid even if they are injured.

They are really playing with fire.

This makes understandable their decision to sit Kristaps out the whole year. Deep down they must be a little worried about coming back too soon and messing their plan. So it’s a better business move for them to rest and only worry about next season.

Is is really unfortunate that they let Kristaps’ quick success get in their heads and mess with their view of NBA business. While it is fair that a player and his team make decisions thinking about what’s best for the player, this interview reveals a brother agent who is operating under the belief that the most important asset a team can have is the player, so the player holds full control over the franchise no matter what. To think that they got to this point with Kristaps’ fragile health and lack of dominant play for a long extended period highlights a level of delusion that is really dangerous for them and could all blow up in their faces if this recovery goes wrong or if they have to face another injury.

I honestly didn’t like the trade at first because a team rebuilding trading their young face of the franchise, who was rehabbing to return soon and lead a young core to relevance again, it just didn’t make sense. And with the Knicks, things that don’t seem to make sense always point at a mistake. But this honestly seems like a really bad situation that had started to become troublesome and NY decided to do damage control before things got out of proportion through the media. Even if it still stings, management did the right thing and should get bonus points for getting this done without alerting the media.

I was really hopeful with Kristaps because he seemed like the talented, intelligent player that could’ve owned NY with his great play, his good off-court act and possibly being the leader of a young team that would work hard to become a winning team again. But after this situation, Kristaps and his brother represent what’s so wrong about the NBA today: players start believing they are god-like, they are above the team and the sport because they sell tickets and jerseys so they control things. It’s not about the city or the team, but the name in the back that makes everything move. This is why every player of this era demands a trade or tries to play together with their friends and whine about everything through the media. This is what is killing the sport in the eyes of the fans.

The unicorn wasn’t one after all. We thought he was a really unique player. Truth is, he is more of the same and he represents the player of this era. And honestly, that’s not a good look.

Dennis Smith Jr is thinking along the same lines. Almost all NBA "stars" who are treated as the greatst thing since sliced bread after a thirty game run, think this way. It's the definition of entitlement. The kid is butting heads with a respected coach and sitting out games, because his shot attempts have gone down. Who are these people in the NBA, WTF has happened here?

MS wrote:We actually don’t treat veterans all that special.

Spree all of sudden was back on the scene after the Oakley fiasco. We never once offered Ewing an assistant coaching job or let him come in for an interview. This was the first season maybe ever Walt Clyde was brought in to work with the players.

Dolan has bread one of the most impressive toxic cultures in all of sports. Everyone is quick to say what KP hasn’t accomplished, but how many kids are all stars at 22 years old. Right now we have the Knicks PR machine. Whose to say it wasn’t spun in the Knicks narrative.

I’m just shocked that KP wanting to be in a winning culture automatically means he’s entitled. I never give this organization the benefit of the doubt. You need to earn that.

We are buying the narrative, but the guys are selling it have accomplished less then the guy we just traded.