Talis and Ingrida Porzingis are the parents of the Latvian basketball prospect, Kristaps Porzingis. Kristaps’ parents have shown unparalled and unwavering support throughout his upbringing.
Kristaps Porzingis is a Latvian professional basketball athlete who showcases his talents for the Boston Celtics of the NBA.
Porzingis started his professional career in 2012 with Sevilla.
Following this, he won the EuroCup Basketball Rising Star Award in 2015 becoming the award’s youngest recipient, a remarkable career feat at 19 years of age.
Moreover, Kristaps signed up himself for the NBA draft and was selected as the fourth overall by the New York Knicks.
However, after certain dissent from the higher-ups on the team, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019.
Porzingis’s spell at the Mavericks was troubled by injuries, and he was again traded to the Washington Wizards in 2022. Similarly, his tenure at the Wizards was short-lived as well and he was traded to the Celtics.
At Celtics, he rediscovered his old form. During the debut against the New York Knicks, he broke the record for the most points scored in a debut in Celtics history, scoring 30 points.
Porzingis is also a pivotal player for the Latvia National Team. He recently competed in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.
Kristaps Porzingis’s Parents: Father Talis And Mother Ingrīda
Kristaps Porzingis was born on August 2, 1995, to his parents Talis and Ingrida Porzingis.
He was born into a lineage of basketball players. Talis Porzingis, his father, played semi-professional basketball before transitioning into his profession.
Talis left basketball and became a full-time bus driver. His role in Kirstap’s success remains unmatched.
Moreover, Kristaps’s father, a 6-foot-4 man, built a wooden court in the family’s backyard. This home basketball court helped Kristaps practice more about the sport he loved, ultimately playing a great role in his fostering.
Talis taught his boys toughness and aggressiveness. Kristaps started playing basketball when he was six.
Likewise, Kristapas’s mother, Ingrida is a former center who played on Latvia women’s youth national basketball team and measures 6-foot-1.
She always wanted her son to play in the NBA as there was no Latvian that reached the NBA since Andris Bledrin in 2004.
Today, Talis and Ingrida are bearing the fruit of their son’s success and fame that is bestowed upon him.
The Porzingis Family: A Tragedy
A documentary that was made on Kristaps Porzingis’ life journey from Latvia to the Knicks revealed a tragedy that struck the Porzingis family.
Kristaps has two elder brothers, Janis, and Martins.
In 2017, an E:60 documentary which was filmed mostly in Latvia made it public that after Janis and Martins’s birth, Talis and Ingrida had a third son named Toms.
Sadly, Toms passed away at 14 months old. Kristaps was born four years later after his older brother Toms’s passing.
Moreover, Ingrida, speaking in her native tongue, said in an interview, “It felt like a bulldozer had run over my life. We had two other children who we had to care for. We had to live on. After Kristaps was born, it was like he had to live for two lives.”
However, till today the in-depth details of the death remain in the dark and the Porzingis are rightfully entitled to keep this matter private.
