Kristaps Porzingis skipped his exit interview to prompt change in the Knicks since Carmelo Anthony never did it himself.
And when it comes to Porzingis signing a long-term extension, the Latvian is in no rush and expects to be treated like a superstar.
Both those nuggets were revealed by Porzingis' older brother and agent, Janis, who spoke recently with Latvian website Sportcentrs.
"(Skipping the exit interview) wasn't an emotional decision," Janis said, according to a translation from Eurohoops.net. "It wasn't a spontaneous action. We had been thinking about it for a long time and it was considered an honest, well-thought decision we came up with together. It was a logical next step for us, without which we would've been in one situation, but now after we did it _ we are in another."
Janis seemed to find it contradictory that Kristaps was labeled unprofessional while Anthony was lauded for the way he handled last season.
"It's interesting how many people who are even somehow involved in all of this, have criticized it afterward as something so unprofessional. Just look at Melo, how he is handling things," Janis said. "And I'm thinking, 'wait a minute.' In reality, if he for once decided to fight for something, we wouldn't be in this situation and Kristaps wouldn't be forced to take all the damage on himself. It wasn't done for some personal interest or ambitions or dislike for someone, it was for the sake of overall peace.
"It should have been a task for the team's leaders, but Melo and people around him never tried to change anything."
Kristaps is eligible for a five-year maximum extension this summer, but recently told the Daily News he still needs to see change from the Knicks before a commitment. Janis warned that if the Knicks don't keep his brother happy he could decide to move elsewhere.
"The most important question here is this: What do you really want to achieve in your career?" Janis said. "Because money _ if Kristaps performs at least on his normal level, is gonna come. We are more focused on some other values and not just to quickly sign a new contract so we can collect the money. That's definitely not our goal, so we won't be feverishly counting minutes or counting points. You can't escape the reality and the Knicks must also see that.
"From their point of view, Kristaps is the focal point at the moment so you cannot upset him much or otherwise, at the end of the season, he will say 'it's not so cool here.' The second question is: Who is the New York audience coming to watch now? To a large extent, it's Kristaps. So the organization has to take that into account."
