There will be a couple of interesting subplots in this year’s NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks.
One is the return of Mavericks star Kyrie Irving to Boston, a place where he spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons and drew the ire of Celtics fans by leaving afterward as a free agent.
Another is the fact that Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis played two seasons and change for Dallas not too long ago.
Former Mavs forward Chandler Parsons says that the team didn’t like playing with Porzingis and that Luka Doncic in particular didn’t enjoy being a teammate of his, per “Run It Back” (via NBACentral).
Chandler Parsons says no one likes Kristaps Porzingis in Dallas
“They do not like Porzingis in Dallas… Luka did not like playing with him, there is an actual beef there” 😳
(🎥 @RunItBackFDTV )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 3, 2024
When Porzingis, a native of Latvia, was the No. 4 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, some felt he was all hype.
But he quickly developed into an All-Star caliber center for the New York Knicks, and although he missed all of the 2018-19 season with an ACL injury, the Mavs saw enough in him to acquire him in a trade.
He put up strong numbers in Dallas, but he was injury-prone, and after a season-and-a-half with the Washington Wizards following another trade, he was sent to the Celtics last summer.
Porzingis has been sidelined with a strained calf ever since the first round of the playoffs, but he seems to be on his way to returning during the upcoming championship series.
A calf strain isn’t an injury to take lightly, but if he returns and doesn’t suffer any ill effects from that ailment, his interior defense, rebounding, and ability to be a major scoring threat will greatly help a Celtics team that hasn’t won it all since 2008.
