Kristaps Porzingis is not a unicorn. In fact, at this point it’s not even clear he knows what a unicorn is. But plenty of people call him that, and now that he’s had everything fully explained to him he’s fully appreciative of what Russell Westbrook meant when he christened the Latvian big man a unicorn in the first place.
Porzingis was injured on Wednesday night, but he hopes it won’t keep him off the court for long. And he used his few days off to be a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night. And though he says he heals like a lizard, the unicorn nickname remains.
On the show on Thursday night, he explained that he was “confused” when he heard that Westbrook had called him a mythical creature. In fact, it seems likely he didn’t even know what the horse with a horn was in the first place.
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“At first I was a little confused,” Porzingis said, drawing a Jimmy Fallon Laugh from the man himself.
Porzingis continued, attempting to explain what he thought a unicorn actually was.
“I was like, ‘what is it, a horse with a ponytail? Like… what? What does it mean?’” Porzingis asked. “But then they kind of explained it to me, like, what he tried to say is that I’m a unique player. So, you know, it was nice to hear him say good things about me.”
It’s good that Porzingis can have an appreciation for the nickname, because it’s certainly stuck. And Westbrook certainly didn’t mean any malice by it. It’s actually a pretty apt nickname, really, and fans have certainly embraced both Porzingis and the unicorm in New York.
