Kristaps Porzingis said he is excited and motivated by the thought of playing in front of Dallas Mavericks fans once the world overcomes the coronavirus pandemic.
The 7ft 3in Latvian forward has been locked down at his home following the suspension of the 2019-20 NBA season but, in a Q&A, explained how he has been staying in shape, embracing new hobbies and keep in touch with his Mavs team-mates.
Porzingis also discussed his love of combat sports, sharing a locker room with Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki and his on-court chemistry with team-mate Luka Doncic.
What have you been up to while in quarantine?
I try to do what I can. I have a little room with a lot of the stuff that I use to stay in shape. I have a little weight room, a bike and stuff so I can do some cardio and I do a little bit of boxing, I try to work on my boxing skills, too. We don't know when we're going to restart everything so I'm just making sure I do the max I can to stay in shape and stay ready.
Have you embraced any new hobbies?
I'm trying to build up the patience to read. That has been something that I've had trouble with, but I think I'm getting better [at] reading books. I love boxing, I've always been a big fan of boxing and martial arts, so I'm keeping myself entertained and doing a little bit of that myself here at home. Just little things that I like and I'm a YouTube guy, so I'm on YouTube just watching videos and learning new stuff. Like I said, just trying to keep myself busy.
What is it you love about boxing and MMA?
I've always been a big fan of Mike Tyson. Also, now with the MMA scene growing and Conor McGregor making it a mainstream sport, I also became a big fan of MMA and that's something I would also love to work on a lot in the offseason once I'm not playing. So, we'll see. I don't know when, but I've always been interested in combat sports.
What profession would you have pursued if not basketball?
There are a lot of things that I'm interested in, it's just I don't know if I have the talent or capability of doing that. As I said, boxing, MMA, I probably wouldn't be a great fighter. But that's something if I was a different body type or whatever, I probably would've loved to do.
Outside of sports, I'm really interested in business and entrepreneurship. That's something I probably would've studied much deeper.
How have the Mavericks trainers helped you in quarantine?
They made a plan for us. We have an app that we can go on and we can have the workouts there and we don't really have to do anything, we can just follow the workout and do our work and they made it really simple for us. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to.
Are you in touch with your team-mates?
We have the group chat going on. We pretty much text each other daily. Everybody's bored. I think we are going to have a group call tonight as a team also. I'm sure that will help us keep our spirits up.
What was it like have Dirk Nowitzki as a team-mate last season?
Just his presence in the locker room and around the team. Everybody loves him. Just to see his energy and see his passion still and motivation at that age, at that point of his career, still putting in the work before practice, it was pretty crazy to see, actually.
That just shows what type of person he is, what type of work ethic he had throughout his career. It definitely gave me more motivation, more hunger to keep working and to try to emulate things he has done in his career to be such a great player.
As a former ACB player, how do you feel about the coronavirus situation in Spain?
It's a tough situation, and I don't understand a lot about what's going on. But what I can say is it's important for people to just follow the guidelines. Whatever people that understand this whole situation are telling you to do, that's what we should all do, and I think that's going to help us beat this situation or get past this situation as fast as possible.
For the people of Spain, stay strong and make sure you do the right thing.
How are things in your native country, Latvia?
The situation in Latvia is good. I'm making sure daily that mum and dad are good and they just away from people and make sure they stay safe. We stay in touch every day. I miss my family, miss my parents. Hopefully, I get to see them soon.
How did you react when the NBA announced the decision to suspend the 2019-20 season during your game against the Denver Nuggets?
We all were kind of in shock. At that point, I didn't realise the magnitude of this whole situation. It was kind of a shock.
What do you think about Mavericks owner Mark Cuban leading the charge in helping those impacted by coronavirus?
We have a great leader in Mark who is pushing all of this, who is making sure people around us are taken care of. That is what he does and I think that is why the city of Dallas loves him so much. And I'm sure we'll keep doing good stuff for the people around the organisation and in the city.
What are you most excited to do when things get back to normal?
Probably just playing at home, playing in front of our fans again and having fun out there. I feel like me and Luka (Doncic) were really getting in a good rhythm playing with each other right before this whole thing happened and hopefully, we can get back to that as soon as possible.
Kristaps Porzingis was speaking as part of NBA Together, a global community and social engagement campaign that aims to support, engage, educate and inspire youth, families, and fans in response to the coronavirus pandemic.