Porziņģis to miss Latvia's World Cup qualifiers in July
Kristaps Porziņģis will not play for the Latvian national basketball team in the early July World Cup qualification games, as he focuses on signing a new NBA contract. He has agreed to help in August if the team qualifies.
The Latvian men's basketball team is set to announce its candidate list for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in July in the coming days, but it is already clear that Kristaps Porziņģis will not be part of the squad. According to Sportacentrs.com, the NBA player and his agents are currently working on finalizing a new contract with an NBA club, meaning he will be unavailable for the July games.
The national team will begin official preparations this weekend. They are scheduled to play away against the Netherlands on July 3 and host Austria in Riga on July 7. Porziņģis has, however, given his consent to help the team in August if they manage to qualify for the next round of qualifiers.
In Group F, after four games, Poland leads with four wins, the Netherlands has two, while Latvia and Austria each have one victory. Latvia lost 78-86 to the Netherlands in November but beat Austria 89-68. In late February, they lost at home to Poland 82-84, and in March they lost again to Poland 72-92. The top three teams from Group F will advance to the second round, joining the top three from Group E. The top three from that six-team group will earn a spot in the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar.
