Mavs Porzingis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Discuss NBA Bubble Life
They exist on opposite ends of the Dallas Mavericks spectrum. One is at the very top of the totem pole, the other near the bottom of the rotation. One has been in the Orlando Bubble since the very start, the other just arrived.
But Kristaps Porzingis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist share some thoughts on NBA Bubble life - including their goals for their dark-horse-contending Mavs.
"I'm extremely excited to be in the playoffs for the first time in my NBA career,'' Porzingis said following a Monday morning practice. "I know it's a different energy and a different atmosphere. We look forward to finishing the regular season first, and then ... aim as high as we can.''
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Porzingis and the rest of the Mavs who have been in Orlando from the start have clearly made the needed adjustments - to the point where coach Rick Carlisle believes his club is ready.
"We like where we are,'' said Carlisle, who will give his team a Tuesday day off (after a 29th birthday party for Dwight Powell tonight) and then ready for the July 23 scrimmage against the Lakers. At this point, things are good.''
Kidd-Gilchrist was part of a glitch in this process, however; Carlisle has for days cited "logistics'' in explaining his (and Trey Burke's) absence in Orlando.
"I had some personal things I had to handle with my family,'' said Kidd-Gilchrist, who arrived Saturday. "I'm happy to be here ... I'm excited to be with my new team and my teammates.''
For Porzingis - one of the top two players on the team, alongside Luka Doncic, and a premier player in the NBA, the eight "seeding'' games and the playoffs represent a high-profile opportunity.
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For Kidd-Gilchrist? He's not a regular rotation player, and he doesn't shoot well enough to do all of the things the Mavs would like of their roster members. But he came to the club in February off waivers from Memphis with Dallas knowing his strengths and his weaknesses ... and now he'll play catch-up in Orlando, hoping to contribute what he can.
"It's a process for all of us,'' Kidd-Gilchrist said, mentioning how much he missed "interaction'' with teammates. "Any advice I can bring, I'm going to do it.''
