Inside Kristaps Porzingis's Long Road to the NBA Finals

Photographs: Getty Images; Collage: Gabe Conte

Kristaps Porzingis surprised Celtics assistant coach DJ MacLeay by repeating one word upon arrival: tranquilo. MacLeay knew enough Spanish to understand what Porzingis would provide the Celtics—the sense of calm that helped them become one of the best regular-season teams in recent memory. If MacLeay didn’t expect Porzingis’s Spanish, though, he wasn’t alone. “I surprise a lot of people with my Spanish, because first, there's almost no accent and it's also from the south of Spain. Like the real Spain Spanish,” Porzingis told GQ earlier this postseason.

Nearly a year later, after Porzingis returned from injury on Thursday for his first NBA Finals, MacLeay’s early inclination was proven right: the big man has been essential to a hugely successful Celtics team that needs three more wins to secure its first championship since 2008. Porzingis, who scored 20 points in 20 minutes after sitting out for 39 days, made an instant impact, pouring in shots over Dallas defenders from the elbow. His first look set him up against his former teammate Luka Doncic, who fouled Porzingis as he lifted his arms to shoot.

It wasn’t guaranteed he’d get to this point: during a game in April, Porzingis pulled his jersey over his face as he stumbled off the court, fearing the worst. His career has been marked by frustrating injuries, and it seemed like this might be the latest. But what fans feared might be an Achilles rupture was in fact a strained calf muscle, and Porzingis took advantage of the time his new team’s depth afforded him, rehabbing for more than five weeks to heal an ailment that typically requires 17 days.

That Celtics roster allowed Porzingis to prioritize availability during the regular season, resting in the second half of back-to-backs and more generally playing a less taxing style of ball. That, and plenty of lunges. “The main thing for me is strength,” he said. “The weight room work. I'm there, time-wise, more than anybody and doing all the accessories and all these small things that I need to do to keep my joints healthy and everything feeling good. Obviously, credit to the medical staff. They were cautious with me.”

It’s been a long road. Kristaps Porzingis joined the Knicks his rookie year as a scrawny seven-footer with “unicorn” three-point range, instantly beloved by the Garden fans. But he tore his ACL in 2018, and his time in New York came to an end when the Mavericks acquired him in a shocking trade during his rehab the following season. A meniscus tear wrecked his first taste of the playoffs in the Bubble, and teammates recalled that incident—rather than the rumors of interpersonal clashing—as responsible for complications in his partnership with Doncic.

“For the most part, they didn’t even have that much time to even play together,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said before the Finals began. “I think the injuries really affected what could’ve been, but off the court and on the court, K.P. and Luka, they always talked. It was always laughing and stuff, but at the end of the day, they’re also competitors as well.”

Dallas traded him to the Washington Wizards, where he shined across two seasons without drawing significant attention—and rebuilt his post game by mostly going back to the basics. He developed a sweep-through effective at drawing fouls and began focusing on turning and shooting over shorter defenders: almost everyone’s shorter than Porzingis. Most importantly, he was able to do it while mostly staying healthy: "It was a mix of me finding that confidence, but also working and perfecting my post-up game, taking some things away that weren't as effective, and adding some more of the things I was effective at.”

At least one team noticed: his final Wizards game came against the Boston Celtics, and his 32-point performance convinced them to acquire him in a proposed trade that seemed to fall apart hours before Porzingis' midnight deadline to become a free agent in July. Nevertheless he woke up a Celtic—and a nervous one, at that, with Boston fans conflicted by the price (longtime fan favorite Marcus Smart and others) required to land him.

“I had better financial contracts available, or an offer, but Boston is what I wanted,” Porzingis told GQ. “If the trade didn't go through, I would've ended up somewhere else. It was a crazy day, crazy night and I went to sleep, because I was in a different time zone and then finally, I woke up and had a bunch of calls and a bunch of messages that I got traded to Boston, and obviously, I was ecstatic.”

Shortly after arriving in Boston, Porzingis agreed to a two-year extension, and quickly began winning the city over. He showed up in his collection of vintage Mercedes, stepping out in suits. On offense, he served as a release valve for the most talented roster he’d ever played with, and provided plenty of protection at the rim. And while his time in Dallas was dogged by rumors that he didn’t get along with Luka Doncic, he went out of his way to bond with his new teammates in Boston.He built a strong relationship with longtime Celtic Jaylen Brown, with the two living in the same building, carpooling to the arena, and sitting next to each other on planes. They grew so close that head coach Joe Mazzulla began referring to them as “Cookies and Cream.”

Porzingis left behind a cohort of admiring younger teammates in Washington, guard Corey Kispert and forward Deni Avdija among them. Former Wizards center Daniel Gafford, who’s starting opposite of Porzingis in the Finals, remembered the way Porzingis would push him in practice You’d crawl into his airspace, Gafford recalled, and still give up a basket.

Kispert was taken with his game, too, and his demeanor after hearing about Porzingis’ Dallas tenure. “I remember him being a lot taller than I thought he was,” Kispert told GQ. “I was shocked at how polished his game was and then, really humble, outgoing and sociable guy … always has something to say, always has jokes. I didn’t really expect that out of him, to be honest.”

His road hasn’t been without its bumps, but Porzingis has found himself in the right situation at exactly the right time. He’s under a microscope—the talk shows last week spent hours on his availability for Game 1—but he’s prepared for the scrutiny in a way he wasn’t as a younger player. “Early in my career, I had the hype and the New York stage and all of this,” Porzingis told GQ. “But to be honest, I wasn't that good of a basketball player yet. I know I had some highlights and because it was in New York, everything was under the microscope … but the basketball player I am right now and I was in New York, it's just night and day from an effectiveness standpoint, and understanding the game. That time in Washington helped me re-find and re-tool my game and take me to the next level.”

He’s at the next level now, and excited for it, crediting the crowd that anticipated his return as they watched him exit from the tunnel alone on the video board with providing the adrenaline he needed to make it through his return to action. As he entered the arena, he smiled and gave every fan on either side a high five before he reached the floor. Back to a routine he’s done regularly since joining Boston.

“My two experiences in the playoffs were one in the Bubble and one in an almost full arena, but still kind of Covid,” he said. “Now to finally play in a full arena in Boston? It's going to be very special.”

Originally Appeared on GQ