Latvia’s big man Kristaps Porzingis is set for a challenging start at the 2025 EuroBasket, as he will face two NBA All-Star big men in the very first round: Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun.
Speaking on the eve of the tournament, Porzingis shared his perspective on the upcoming matchups and the challenges ahead.
“Jokic… This guy is probably No. 1 in the world. This is my opinion,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough-tough challenge for us. We still have Turkey and Estonia first, and then Serbia. We have a little bit of time. We aren’t focused on Serbia yet, but we’re going to have our hands full.”
Meanwhile, Latvia will begin Group A play against Turkey, and Porzingis will face off against Sengun, a matchup he described as formidable.
“He’s a beast,” Porzingis said of Sengun. “He’s a great player. He’s been better with each year. We have a challenge in front of us. His passing ability, his talent offensively…. we’re going to have our hands full. It’s going to take a team effort.”
Reflecting on the current Latvian roster, Porzingis admitted uncertainty over whether this is the strongest version of the team in recent years.
“It’s always like recency bias, you want to be like, yeah, yeah, we’re the best, but there’s always been some good players, high-level players, your league players. You know, at one point we had 5 NBA guys, you know, so now it’s only 1, you know, but, but of course we have a, we have a talented and experienced team, and we have the young guy like Zagars coming up also. We have a bunch of guys who are really good and didn’t make the roster, but they’re going to be really good.”
Despite the fact that Latvia is hosting the tournament and aims for a strong finish, Porzingis says he personally doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the pressure.
“I personally don’t feel it. I only see it as something valuable that you’re able to play at home in front of your crowd. You have the home advantage. You’re supposed to have the home advantage, but then of course there’s some extra pressure to perform well, and that’s what we have to do, and that’s why we’re here working all summer long. Hopefully, we can show our best basketball.”
Kristaps Porzingis declares Jokic "no. 1 player in the world" and admits that Alperen Sengun "is a beast" before their matchup in #Eurobasket https://t.co/oN9bt8FJIn
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 26, 2025
