Kristaps Porzingis shares he felt ‘some responsibility’ to replace Marcus Smart’s spirit in Boston

During the summer, most Celtics fans had mixed feelings when they were told that Marcus Smart was being traded out. The good news was that Kristaps Porzingis was heading to Boston, only problem was that they had just dealt their most valued defender and a locker-room leader. 

In a recent interview, the Latvian center revealed that he felt a lot of pressure when he first arrived in Massachusetts, mostly due to the hole his trade left in the roster.

“What they’re giving up for me was a big piece of this team — Marcus Smart,” Porzingis shared. “I’m having to come in and not replace him, but come in with who I am and bring what I bring to a team. There was some responsibility.”

Porzingis gonna make me forget Marcus smart was ever a Celtic at this rate https://t.co/n9LQjXVQpb

— ⏳ (@kingDiaws) December 29, 2023

However, this is a responsibility that Kristaps has not shied away from, and has handled impressively. In  a way, Boston solved Smart’s departure by acquiring Jrue Holiday from Portland, even though the Latvian can handle both defensive and offensive duties on the court.

Nowadays, the former Wizards center seems like a perfect fit to the Celtics roster. Not only does he rank third in the team’s points per game (19.6) while shooting his career-best 53.5%, but he even scored the franchise record for a highest-scoring debut at the start of the season with 30 points.

With his presence, stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have more room to operate offensively. “It starts with JT and JB,” Porzingis told the press. “They’re sacrificing a little bit. They’re making the right reads and the right plays for everybody. It’s a chain reaction. If they’re doing it, then everybody is going to be doing it.”

Porzingis believes his new conditioning routines have been paying off in Boston, as he’s stayed healthy so far this season

Kristaps arrived in Boston after his break-out campaign for both his stats and durability in Washington, and he’s been able to maintain his form throughout this 2023/24 NBA season. The Latvian believes this is due to his work of strengthening his lower body and new work-out routines.

“Just keeping my same routine and making sure that I take care of my body. It’s been paying off,” the 28-year-old said. “All of those small injuries and not-so-small injuries have been helping me figure out ways to keep my body as healthy as possible. Of course, there are some contact stuff where somebody goes underneath you, and you roll your ankle. Those things are going to happen. But it’s important that I do everything on my side to make sure that I stay healthy.”

His coach Joe Mazzulla is more than impressed with his new big man, as he believes Porzingis is constantly reinventing himself and adapting to his different roles in the Boston squad.

“You’re seeing KP kind of reinvent himself as far as how we play a different style offense with him,” shared the Celtics trainer. “He’s not getting the off-ball actions that he was [getting earlier in his career.”