Knicks' Porzingis crushing 5K calories a day – CBSSports.com
When we watched Kristaps Porzingis during summer league, every single compliment seemed to come with a qualifier. He has to bulk up. If Porzingis hit a jumper or got a shot off inside or grabbed a rebound or blocked a shot or earned a trip to the free throw line, it was immediately countered with the idea that he’s simply too skinny. For some reason, it was a necessary statement to make so you could back out of praising him if he ended up being a bust in the real games.
The New York Knicks‘ No. 4 pick in the draft even mentioned it for himself in a couple of interviews and has been trying really hard to put on weight. It turns out he’s consuming 5,000 calories each day, which includes eating three steaks, in an effort to bulk up. His goal was to gain 15 pounds and is up 11 pounds so far as we get closer to training camp. From the New York Daily News:
Porzingis, who is roughly 7-2, has aggressively been trying to adapt his body to the NBA, consuming roughly 5,000 calories (including three steaks) per day in hopes of gaining 15 pounds. He’s four pounds short of his goal, and there’s an understanding that he’s built for power forward in the NBA, rather than banging in the paint with centers.
“For now, I’m a (power forward) for sure because of the defense. I’ve got to be able to hold those (centers). So that’s the main thing,” the 20-year-old said. “Once I get stronger, I’ll be able to play (center). Offensively, I can play both positions. At (center), I’ll be way quicker than the defender. So I’ll get stronger and gain more weight, if I want to play (center).”
5,000 calories a day? That’s a lot of sklandrausis.
Porzingis is around 7’2″ and was listed at about 210 pounds. Getting him up to around 220-225 pounds by the time the season starts would put him in that Kevin Garnett size range from when KG was a young player. That’s a good start for Porzingis, but you don’t want him to gain too much weight too quickly. The Knicks have to make sure he’s responsible putting on weight so that his frame can handle the added bulk. But if he’s able to get up to around 230-240 pounds, he’ll be able to handle a lot of the punishment inside. If he has a strong base to keep leverage in the post, he should be able to keep his quickness and switch between playing both big man positions.
Kristaps Porzingis has come close to his weight goal. (USATSI)
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