ESPN drives Porzingis bandwagon with Latvian rap promo
By Jonathan Lehman December 2, 2015 | 10:55am

For a primetime Friday NBA card that includes LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony and various humans wearing Nets uniforms, ESPN chose to center its hype commercial around Knicks rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis … and bump the outrageous Latvian rap song created in his name.

Now this is some catchy promo work:

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/KennyDucey/status/672055894994063361

With his putback-dunking, double-double-stacking performance through the Knicks’ first 18 games, Porzingis has stamped himself as a legitimate Rookie of the Year contender and developed a national following.

But acolytes in his homeland of Latvia were ahead of the curve, and the rap duo Transleiteris threw down these bars back in early July, when Porzingis was still considered a project No. 4 draft pick.

Good luck getting that hook out of your head anytime this week.

Hope they aren't putting a target on his back.

Wonder if it has any affect in the Knicks' locker room?

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/lang_whitaker/11/29/rookie-kristaps-porzingis-giving-the-new-york-knicks-fan-base-real-reason-for-optimism/

We were all -- me, my other brother and Kris -- we were all fans of the NBA, even though we were in Europe," says Janis. "Because we knew the best of the best were in the NBA. The athleticism, the speed and everything, you can't match that. In Europe, in some ways guys may play a little more team basketball and so on, but that's just because you just have to figure out how to win if you can't jump over somebody. We really enjoyed the athleticism."

Clearly, Porzingis hasn't had any problems leaping over his competition, which has also eased his NBA entrance. At 7-foot-3, he is almost always the tallest player on the court, although he almost never plays the center position. As a power forward with swingman skills, part of what makes Porzingis so exciting is the promise he shows, and how he thus far has found success while largely existing on athleticism, hustle and dirty work. He's shown flashes of offensive ability, but he's earning playing time based on things like rebounding and blocked shots, the kind of skills you can't really teach, that are instead largely a product of desire.

I think what's allowing Kris to be successful is that he hasn't tried to do some specific thing every night," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said recently. "He has to be in the post or he has to shoot 3s... he's just playing the game. His best offense has been offensive rebounding and running the floor. I think he should continue to focus on those things. His post game will develop over time more than it being something he has to focus on. He has a really good feel for the game."

Of course, what makes the game so difficult is that it is always changing. After 20 points and 14 boards in Miami a few days earlier, Porzingis had this relative turkey of a game against the same Heat squad. As he digests the loss, Porzingis says he realizes that the key to long-term achievement in the NBA is consistency, and maintaining production for the long term.

I have my routine," says Porzingis, "I have things I go through. I visualize before the game and try to prepare myself every time, the same. There will be days when you don't make shots, but just bringing the same energy, bringing the same mentality to the floor, every time.

"There are things I can do even though you scout me. Like, my jump shot is very hard to block, but guys can do a good job and contest the shot. But inside the Triangle, there are ways where you can deny the ball and you have to go to other options, and I think we're starting to see that."

Thus far, Porzingis has apparently mostly avoided the trappings of celebrity in the Big Apple -- a nickname, a famous girlfriend, derisive mentions in Page 6, a hashtag. In many ways, Porzingis is the perfect millennial superstar for a shrunken globe. Sure he was born roughly 4,000 miles from the nearest NBA franchise, but he was raised in a world that, at least for him, was always interconnected, where any NBA highlight or play was just a click or a swipe away. He is active on social media, and clearly understands basketball fashion and culture -- he says he listens to Drake and Future before games, and has worn Kobe 9 highs on the court since they dropped last year. While Latvian is his native language, Porzingis is also fluent in English and Spanish, and toggles seamlessly between both during interviews after Knicks games.

The season and his career are young, but Porzingis has given Knicks fans, at long last, something to believe in.
And, at least for now, New York City is all in on Porzingis.

GustavBahler wrote:One more article for hype train, if you dont mind Nix (check out the part about the triangle). From the second half of the article:

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/lang_whitaker/11/29/rookie-kristaps-porzingis-giving-the-new-york-knicks-fan-base-real-reason-for-optimism/

We were all -- me, my other brother and Kris -- we were all fans of the NBA, even though we were in Europe," says Janis. "Because we knew the best of the best were in the NBA. The athleticism, the speed and everything, you can't match that. In Europe, in some ways guys may play a little more team basketball and so on, but that's just because you just have to figure out how to win if you can't jump over somebody. We really enjoyed the athleticism."

Clearly, Porzingis hasn't had any problems leaping over his competition, which has also eased his NBA entrance. At 7-foot-3, he is almost always the tallest player on the court, although he almost never plays the center position. As a power forward with swingman skills, part of what makes Porzingis so exciting is the promise he shows, and how he thus far has found success while largely existing on athleticism, hustle and dirty work. He's shown flashes of offensive ability, but he's earning playing time based on things like rebounding and blocked shots, the kind of skills you can't really teach, that are instead largely a product of desire.

I think what's allowing Kris to be successful is that he hasn't tried to do some specific thing every night," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said recently. "He has to be in the post or he has to shoot 3s... he's just playing the game. His best offense has been offensive rebounding and running the floor. I think he should continue to focus on those things. His post game will develop over time more than it being something he has to focus on. He has a really good feel for the game."

Of course, what makes the game so difficult is that it is always changing. After 20 points and 14 boards in Miami a few days earlier, Porzingis had this relative turkey of a game against the same Heat squad. As he digests the loss, Porzingis says he realizes that the key to long-term achievement in the NBA is consistency, and maintaining production for the long term.

I have my routine," says Porzingis, "I have things I go through. I visualize before the game and try to prepare myself every time, the same. There will be days when you don't make shots, but just bringing the same energy, bringing the same mentality to the floor, every time.

"There are things I can do even though you scout me. Like, my jump shot is very hard to block, but guys can do a good job and contest the shot. But inside the Triangle, there are ways where you can deny the ball and you have to go to other options, and I think we're starting to see that."

Thus far, Porzingis has apparently mostly avoided the trappings of celebrity in the Big Apple -- a nickname, a famous girlfriend, derisive mentions in Page 6, a hashtag. In many ways, Porzingis is the perfect millennial superstar for a shrunken globe. Sure he was born roughly 4,000 miles from the nearest NBA franchise, but he was raised in a world that, at least for him, was always interconnected, where any NBA highlight or play was just a click or a swipe away. He is active on social media, and clearly understands basketball fashion and culture -- he says he listens to Drake and Future before games, and has worn Kobe 9 highs on the court since they dropped last year. While Latvian is his native language, Porzingis is also fluent in English and Spanish, and toggles seamlessly between both during interviews after Knicks games.

The season and his career are young, but Porzingis has given Knicks fans, at long last, something to believe in.
And, at least for now, New York City is all in on Porzingis.

Thanks for posting this article GustavBahler. It was pretty nice. Interesting to read that KP uses visualization before games and is looking to have a consistent approach every night. We've never had a rookie talk like this.