Why isn't Kristaps Porzingis playing at the Paris Olympics?
The Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship with a dominant run through the playoffs. Despite that, members of that roster will be few and far between at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jayson Tatum will take on a starring role for the United States’ team. Derrick White earned a late invitation as an injury replacement for Kawhi Leonard. But Jaylen Brown, fresh off a Finals MVP, won’t be there — a decision that led him to more cryptic tweets and probably a heaping dose of offseason motivation.
Kristaps Porzingis won’t be there either. That’s for two reasons.
1. He’s recovering from surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon. That injury kept him from the court for a portion of the NBA Finals before he returned for the Celtics’ Game 5 victory. He’s expected to be out until December.
2. His native Latvia hasn’t qualified for the Olympics since 1936.
That’s not to say Latvia’s national team is bad. It made it to the qualification stage in two of the last three Olympic cycles, ranking among the world’s top 16 teams in the process.
But despite hosting a qualifying tournament in national capital Riga, Latvia was blitzed by Brazil with the opportunity to qualify for the Games on the line, 94-69. Porzingis, thanks to his injury, didn’t get the chance to play in that game.