Kristaps Porzingis has named Serbia as their toughest group-stage opponent at EuroBasket 2025, while expressing excitement about potential matchups with neighboring countries. He compared the tournament’s intensity to the NBA playoffs and EuroLeague games, calling every possession “life or death.”
Kristaps Porzingis has set his sights on Serbia as Latvia’s most formidable group-stage opponent at EuroBasket 2025, while also expressing excitement at the prospect of facing neighboring countries later in the tournament.
Kristaps Porzingis
Kristaps Porzingis
Position: C
Age: 30
Height: 221 cm
Weight: 109 kg
Birth place: Liepaja, Latvia
Speaking about the level of competition, Porzingis singled out Serbia as “probably, number one, top three for sure, team in the tournament on paper. That’s going to be a tough game for us,” he said per FIBA Scoreplay.
He also noted that Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Estonia are dangerous opponents who can surprise if the team isn’t fully locked in: “Everybody can surprise you if you’re not correct on that day. So we just have to be… locked in.”
Porzingis shared that a matchup with Latvia’s neighbors would be especially exciting, highlighting the historic rivalries and passionate fans.
“It would be really cool to play them. That’s always a big rivalry and they have great fans. We’re trying to creep up on them, and it will be really cool to play them.”
Credit Latvijas Basketbola savienība
He also reflected on the intensity of EuroBasket, comparing it to the NBA playoffs and EuroLeague games.
“Every game is life or death, right? Every possession matters, and that’s why it’s so fun for us as players and for the fans. The intensity is insane… but so is the NBA Finals or the NBA playoffs.”
With the tournament taking place at home in Riga, Porziņģis described the experience as “once in a lifetime… especially for us as a small country. There’s no looking back. We have to give a hundred percent when we’re out there and enjoy every single second on the floor.”
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