The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio Di Janiero are less than 100 days away. The Olympic flame is making its way to Brazil as we speak.
But one person that won’t be making his way to Brazil is Kristaps Porzingis. The Knicks’ Golden boy had a few injuries keeping him down late in the regular season and ever the hard worker would rather focus on long-term development than going for the Olympics. He is going to do the smart thing and won’t play for his country in Olympic qualifying.
The rookie announced his decision Monday at a news conference in Latvia, his home country.
The decision to sit out the qualifying tournament likely wasn’t an easy one for Porzingis. He spoke often about how important it was to him that he represent his country.
“My heart is saying you should go and play for your country, you should represent your country,” Porzingis said last month. “At the same time, with my head, I’m understanding this is a big offseason for me and I really want to work individually.”
Kristaps Porzingis will work with the Knicks training staff over the summer, which is pretty scary considering how good he looked for most of the season. He dissipated late in the season, mostly fatigue from never having to play for so often in a season, but hopefully he’ll work on his conditioning and will most likely avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.
