BOSTON — Before Kristaps Porzingis can look ahead to the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics center first looked back at his past.
Kyrie Irving isn’t the only one facing his former team on the elevated stage. Porzingis is doing the same after he spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Dallas Mavericks from 2019-2022.
Rumors swirled this week that Porzingis endured a less than rosy tenure with the Mavericks and had beef with the team and star guard Luka Doncic before getting traded to the Washington Wizards.
Porzingis didn’t give any credence to those rumors Wednesday during NBA Finals media day at TD Garden, but did admit that his time with the Mavericks didn’t go as planned.
“Not all of it was like not good. We had some good moments. We had some decent moments,” Porzingis said. “Overall I think it didn’t work for both sides. It wasn’t perfect. But like I would say, everything, teammates, locker room, I know at that time there were some rumors there’s like something in the locker room. It was never like that. It’s all just noise at the end.
“It wasn’t just perfect for us playing together. It didn’t work out, that’s it. We moved on. There’s no ill will from their side, for sure from my side. I don’t think there should be. Just didn’t work out. But I have nothing but love for Dallas and for the teammates and for everybody there.”
The Mavericks initially acquired Porzingis from the New York Knicks in January 2019 as he was recovering from an ACL injury. Porzingis played well over the course of 134 regular-season games with Dallas by averaging 20 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, but he never earned an All-Star appearance like when he was with the Knicks.
Even though Porzingis and Doncic, who was in his second year in the league when Porzingis joined Dallas on the floor, were thought to be a star-studded tandem, the duo never led the Mavericks to a playoff series win together.
“I don’t know why it didn’t work out,” Doncic said. “We were still both young. We tried to make it work, but it just didn’t work. So moved on.”
Just months after shipping Porzingis to the Wizards, Doncic continued his ascension and led Dallas to a Western Conference finals appearance.
Doncic and the Mavericks have now taken the next step and meet Porzingis, who will return for Game 1, and the Celtics in the Finals. Porzingis said there’s no friction between Doncic — the world will see if that’s really true when the two are on the court — and he understands Boston will have its hands full in trying to stop the dynamic guard.
“It’s good. It’s always been good,” Porzingis said of his relationship with Doncic. “As I said, he’s one of the best players in the league, in the world. It will be a tough challenge for us to try to stop him. Just following his career when he came in the league, already made a huge impact. I had the opportunity to play with him for a couple years, get to know him. Just knowing what type of person he is, what type of player he is, his mindset, he’s a special player. We have a big challenge ahead of us competing against somebody like that.”
