Knicks tyke Kristaps Porzingis is listed at more than seven feet tall (Berman at the Post has him at 7-foot-3 because lol) and 220 pounds. That’s very lean. He also only turned 20 last month, leaving him plenty of time to fill out — only LeBron and Oden came into the league as grown men. But it seems Zinger has already started the bulking up process that’s so integral to a rookie’s development when they first come into the NBA.
As the New York Post reported on Monday, Porzingis has put on 11 pounds since he returned from a trip to Latvia earlier in the summer. That 11 pounds has buttressed his confidence, as well as his frame.
“It’s the upper body,” Porzingis informed the Post in a piece published today. “Guys can’t push me around that easy, and I still got time to get a little stronger. I can’t wait for training camp.”
Zinger added that he’s “working out twice a day, lifting hard,” and “trying to eat as much as possible to gain weight.” He even uploaded a picture from the weight room to his Instagram, exhibit A in every offseason I gained [insert number] pounds of muscle story on media day at the end of the month.
https://instagram.com/p/5-JQFvkVLe/
Here’s a picture of a purportedly “broader” Kristaps at the U.S. Open, as Berman mentioned in the piece (no word on whether Berman was at Flushing Meadows, or if he’s like us and would rather peruse an Instagram account than brave the humidity in Queens).
https://instagram.com/p/7ToxZsEVMu/?taken-by=kporzee
It’s unclear whether this is the usual offseason drivel beat writers scare up on deadline, or if Zinger really is adding some girth to bang with the big boys once preseason action starts next month. As our tone should make clear, offseason weight gain declarations, or last summer’s Paleo-centric weight loss, is all part of the preseason embellishment we get bombarded with every September and October.
For Knicks fans, hopefully, it’s not just a N.Y. rag’s summer adornment for New York’s first-round pick.