Kristaps Porzingis Not Removing ‘Chip On Shoulder’ After Winning Title

BOSTON -- Everyone knows about the motivation Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown gained this offseason.

But they didn't gobble up all the extra drive for the Celtics. Kristaps Porzingis grabbed his own share, too.

Unlike Tatum and Brown, Porzingis' motivation doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics as the 7-foot-2 center spent the offseason rehabbing a "rare" ankle injury that will cause him to miss the start of the season.

The narrative on the oft-injured Porzingis before he was traded to the Celtics last offseason was he didn't make the most of his superior talent and he couldn't contribute to a winning team. He felt he didn't need the title he won with the Celtics last season to verify his career even though he was a sidecar for much of Boston's championship run due to injuries -- he played in just seven of 19 postseason games.

And the ring Porzingis will receive on Oct. 22 when the Celtics kick off their title defense against the New York Knicks won't at all diminish the desire for Porzingis to show he can have an even greater impact on the court this upcoming season, especially when it matters most.

"Obviously, I had a lot of ups and downs in my career, right? Did it verify for myself? I don't think so," Porzingis said Tuesday at Celtics media day from the Auerbach Center. "I'm still extremely hungry. I still feel like I have a chip on my shoulder. I want to stay healthy throughout this next playoff run we're going to have. So, I still have many things to prove in my own eyes and I can find other ways, angles or things that I can motivate myself if I need to.

"That's going to be there. I think that's just healthy. It's definitely nice proof to myself and us as a team, to everybody, we're capable of doing it and now we have the next mission ahead of us."

Porzingis turned into an all-around difference-maker in his first season with the Celtics and proved to be the perfect complement next to Tatum and Brown. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks during the 2023-24 campaign while shooting a healthy 37.5% from beyond the arc.

He'll get off to a delayed start this season due to his recovery from ankle surgery but is eyeing a return in December. Even though he's limited in what he can do on the court at this moment, Porzingis is fired up to get started and prove anyone wrong that still has doubts about him.

"I'm always excited for the beginning of the season, the training camp. It's like the first day of school," Porzingis said. "You start training camp and it begins. It's a war out there and then boom, the regular season starts and then you're back into the rhythm."