Last summer, Kristaps Porzingis decided to stay away from the Latvian national team in the Olympic qualifying tournament. Things could very well be different this time around, as the Knicks’ young Latvian stud told FIBA.com that he “absolutely” hopes to play for Latvia in the 2017 Eurobasket tournament, which takes place from August 31 to September 17 in Istanbul.
"Playing in Istanbul is going to be intense,” Porzingis said, “as it's a country and a city that loves basketball. We will need to be ready from day one and play at our best level. We will also need a bit of luck like every team needs in this kind of competition.