Kristaps Porzingis will not participate in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Knicks star from Latvia said in a press conference Monday morning, according to reports.
Porzingis, the Knicks’ fourth-round pick, missed the final seven games of his rookie season with a strained shoulder. He finished his rookie year with 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Knicks interim head coach Kurt Rambis said in mid-March that he’d prefer Porzingis skip the Olympics to get healthy and work with the rest of the team.
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“If I had my choice, I think it’s obviously what I would want,” Rambis said. “I understand players’ commitments to their country and their desire to play for their country. But from a selfish standpoint, looking at it purely from a Knicks standpoint, yeah, we’d want him here working with us the whole time [in the summer].”
“A lot of the summer can be used to develop strength and work on aspects of your game that need development, and not necessarily play,” Rambis added. “When you play, you go back to your strengths and go back to your instincts. A lot of training and thought process in terms of how you will develop and change your game can happen over the summer. Sometimes playing can be bad, there can be too much of it. It’s not conducive to player development.”
..... - Newsday