The New York Knicks had better keep superstar Kristaps Porzingis happy or else, says his brother and agent, Janis.
In a recent interview with the Latvian website Sportcentrs, Janis reveals that Porzingis skipped his exit interview last year to help spark change in the Knicks organization because Carmelo Anthony never had the stones to do it himself.
Janis also said the Knicks had better go above and beyond to keep Porzingis happy or he could soon be headed out of town.
“[Skipping the exit interview] wasn’t an emotional decision,” Janis said, according to a 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.
“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. 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.”
Peace, of course, being the ultimate goal between the Knicks and Kristaps. And if that balance isn’t struck, well…
“The most important question here is this: What do you really want to achieve in your career?” Janis said. “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.”
Porzingis is eligible for a five-year maximum extension after the conclusion of this season, but has remained uncommitted to the Knicks pending real change in the organization.
