How Kristaps Porzingis Became New York’s New King of Sports

For a time, at least, New York Knicks fans hated Kristaps Porzingis. When the 7-foot-3, 19-year-old Latvian’s name was announced as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, supporters of Manhattan’s team unleashed a barrage of boos. one man in a Knicks jersey burying his face in his hands, then cut to a child sobbing and raising a thumbs-down. To devotees of a once-proud franchise that had, for the last decade, vacillated between the statuses of also-ran and laughingstock—marked by just three playoff appearances in the past 13 seasons—the selection looked like another of the desperate gambits that had come to define the team. “Perhaps Kris Porzingis can turn these fans around at some point,” said ESPN host Rece Davis over the jeers, sounding