Kristaps Porzingis is taking a page from the bizarro book of one fellow NBA seven-footer.
The Washington Wizards big man Porzingis revealed to reporters this week that he has adopted the unusual method of contesting threes popularized by Luke Kornet of the Boston Celtics. In what has since been christened “The Kornet Contest,” Kornet leaps up to cover the basket during an opponent’s three-point attempt instead of actually closing out to the shooter physically. That way, Kornet is able to alter the shot by disrupting the shooter’s view of the basket despite not being anywhere close to the attempt.
Since then, several instances have emerged of Porzingis doing the move too.
The Kornet closeout is spreading pic.twitter.com/WhZa8F0Xwp
— Mike Prada. (PRAY-duh) (@MikePradaNBA) December 10, 2022
Interesting strategy in 2H of WAS/LAL as the Wiz went 2 C lineup & put Porzingis on Russ (Lakers 6 points on 11 possessions)
Also notice the Kornet Kontests pic.twitter.com/iNf22tugim
— a hoop (@A_hoop_) December 19, 2022
“It actually works, yeah,” Porzingis said this week, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “I mean, we don’t have a lot of examples. But as much as we have, while Kornet’s been doing it, it’s been working. So, we’re trying it also.
“I don’t know what our numbers are, but at least from my feeling on the court, I feel like they have missed a bunch of threes when I have done the Kornet jump,” Porzingis added. “So, I’ll keep doing it. Even if you jump in the air, you come down and you’re still there for the defense because he’s coming at you and you still have that space … I think it’s going to be a thing that we’ll have to keep using more.”
The sixth-year big man Kornet became the butt of jokes when he first started doing the move for Boston earlier in the season. But “The Kornet Contest” has actually proven both effective and efficient. A recent feature by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps revealed just how analytically profitable the move has been this season.
At 7-foot-3, Porzingis is actually even taller than the 7-foot-2 Kornet. Thus, he should be able to have similar success with the unorthodox move if he can get the timing down pat.
