Patient Porzingis on sitting: 'It's very, very tough'
For Kristaps Porzingis, the most difficult part of sticking to the plan for his comeback comes when he steps into his closet before heading to the arena for Dallas Mavericks 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 in his most extensive sit-down interview since the New York Knicks traded him to Dallas in early February. "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.cheap nfl jerseys china nike
"It's so weird that I'm not able to -- I am able to, but I'm not playing yet. 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."
Porzingis has fully recovered from the torn ACL in his left knee suffered on Feb. 6, 2018 and has resumed full basketball activities with the exception of playing in games. He said he feels great mentally and physically and has better athletic-test results -- more power generated, more explosiveness, better lateral movement -- than he did before suffering the injury.
However, Porzingis will not play until next season, following the plan he agreed to over a year ago in consultation with his most trusted advisors -- including his older brother and agent, Janis Porzingis, and physical therapist, Manolo Valdivieso.
The Mavs readily accepted the plan after trading for Porzingis and added Valdivieso to their staff to work in consultation with head athletic trainer Casey Smith and director of athletic performance Jeremy Holsopple. Porzingis said he is "grateful" for how smooth the Mavs have made his transition to a new team.china nike nfl jerseys cheap
Porzingis, who participated in a full 5-on-5 practice for the first time with the Mavs on March 13, admits that his patience occasionally wears thin but believes the cautious process is in his best long-term interests.
"I'm not going to rush anything," Porzingis said. "Of course I want to play. Three months out of the surgery, I was like, 'I think I can start playing maybe.' It's been on my mind the whole time.
"I'm really proud of myself for staying this patient with the knee and taking my time. There hasn't been a lot of cases of a 7-(foot-)3 guy tearing his ACL. The good thing about the injury is it was a contact injury. If it was not a contact injury, that would be much more dangerous for me. But it was a contact injury. That means my body mechanics are fine. Now what I've been doing is just getting better with them. I'll keep doing that the whole summer, keep working on my body, keep strengthening my joints, my knees, my ankles, my posture, everything.
