Kristaps Porzingis of the Knicks and Myles Turner of the Pacers will alternate on a weekly diary for NBA.com covering life as a rookie, from challenges and success on the court to adjusting to their new world off it. This week: Porzingis discusses the transition to living in the United States.
I had an idea about America from the movies and New York is in every movie and everywhere on TV. You’ve already seen it, but you maybe don’t see the way people are and little things like that — the culture. But basically, this is what I was kind of waiting for. It’s been nothing unexpected for me.
I’m loving New York so far. The people are great. Everything has been good. The traffic is kind of crazy. And the people. All that chaos is kind of crazy for me. It’s something new, but I think I’m getting used to it. At first I was kind of stressing about it. When I was driving to the game and it didn’t go smoothly and I didn’t get the exit I wanted to. But now when I got used to it I know what’s going to happen and I’m kind of ready for it.
I’m going to need a lot of time to discover everything. But so far, most of the time I’ve been outside the city where I live and just going to the practice facility, working out and coming home and getting some rest. I haven’t really gotten to enjoyed the city that much. I’ll do that when I have more time.
My mom, dad and both my brothers have come with me. My family’s support is everything and my family’s everything. It’s great having them around. Mom’s been cooking, dad’s been watching basketball. We talk basketball all the time. And both my brothers are always there to support me.
Having my family around always helps. You feel good at home, you’re comfortable and you can focus on what you really need to do on the court. They will make everything else as easy as possible on me so I can just do my job. That’s what they’re here for. They’re really making it much easier for me.
And the cold doesn’t bother me. I’m from Northern Europe and I actually like the cold. I love the snow. I always like to have some snow during Christmas time. The cold weather is a part of New York and it’s a part of me too.
I can’t say anything bad about any of the cities I’ve been to. Toronto was really beautiful. I really liked Washington. Miami. The weather and everything was really good. Orlando was nice. I liked Orlando. I haven’t been to L.A. yet, but so far it’s been a lot of beautiful cities. I just haven’t been out much. I’ll probably have more time to do that as my career goes on.
I would like to do some sightseeing, but a lot of times you’re busy or you’re tired and you just want to stay in the hotel and order room service. But whenever I feel like doing that, I try to do that to educate myself as much as possible about the cities. I’m looking forward to going to L.A. The weather is always nice there and my teammate Sasha Vujacic (who played for the Lakers and Clippers) told me he’s going to take me to some nice restaurants. I’m looking forward to that. My family will come with me. Hopefully we’ll have some time and we can spend it together there.
