CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ There's a new Latvian in town.
Rodions Kurucs, the 21-year-old forward for the Brooklyn Nets, is filling the Baltic void left in NYC basketball following the stunning trade of Kristaps Porzingis.
And after the Knicks canceled their Latvian Heritage Night scheduled for Feb. 24, Kurucs believes the Nets will pick up the slack.
"I think Brooklyn will have one next year," said Kurucs, who was aware of the Knicks' decision to abandon the celebration of Latvian heritage.
Kurucs, unlike Porzingis, was unheralded coming out of the draft and fell to the second round (40th overall). He sat near the end of Brooklyn's bench until January, and then took off through February as the Nets catapulted into playoff contention.
The first reward was Kurucs being named to the Rising Stars Challenge for Friday night's game, when he scored 10 points with five assists and four boards in the World Team's 161-144 loss to the USA Team. Knicks rookie Kevin Knox had 11 points and a highlight dunk for the U.S.
Kurucs said he and Porzingis were trying to establish a friendship before the Unicorn was sent to Dallas.
"When he was here we talked about it that we were going to go to dinner," Kurucs said. "But then he got traded."
The Knicks held a grandiose Latvian Heritage Night last year with Porzingis still on the roster. They even invited the President of Latvia to the ceremonies. This year, they scheduled a Latvian folk dance group to perform and then canceled it.
It's very unlikely Porzingis and Kurucs will play together on the Latvian team this summer. Porzingis still has not suited up since tearing his ACL over a year ago, and Kurucs said he'll probably use the offseason to "work on my body" instead of playing overseas.
Regardless, there's now only one Latvian playing pro ball in NYC.
"When people ask me (about Porzingis being traded), I'm just answering that I'm now the king of New York," Kurucs said with a smile. "I'm just joking."
