KRISTAPS Porzingis caused a stir on social media Saturday (Sunday, Manila time) after his official Twitter account posted then immediately deleted ‘LA Clippers’ with three smiling emojis.
Tweeted. Then deleted. ???? pic.twitter.com/IjwPrcNfmD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 7, 2017
But the New York Knicks forward clarified that his account was hacked, which led to that controversial tweet.
I was hacked last night and a post was made from my account. I have alerted twitter and they are looking into the incident.
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) May 7, 2017
“I was hacked last night and a post was made from my account. I have alerted Twitter and they are looking into the incident,” Porzingis posted on his Twitter account on Sunday.
“I would never tweet something like that. I don’t even use that emoji smiley face,” he added with a photo on his tweet of the frequently used emojis on his account.
I would never tweet something like that. I dont even use that emoji smiley face. Cmon B ???????????? pic.twitter.com/EXmtej5qzn
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) May 7, 2017
ESPN’s Ian Begley got in touch with a representative from Porzingis’ camp before the Latvian forward made his statement on Twitter, saying the Knicks star was sleeping at the time the controversial tweet was published and deleted.
New York Post’s Marc Berman had pointed out in his report that Porzingis isn’t always the one who posts on his Twitter account, bringing up the possibility that one of his social media staff meant to post it on a different account and deleted the tweet as soon as the mistake was done.
The ‘LA Clippers’ tweet, however, fueled speculation that Porzingis may have given a preferred destination after an ESPN report that several teams have asked about a possible trade as the second-year forward skipped exit meetings reportedly due to frustration from the Knicks’ lack of direction.
Still, Porzingis’ camp has clarified that this was a case of hacking and that he remains with the Knicks.
Porzingis is currently at home in Latvia for vacation and to play for the Latvian national team set for the 2017 EuroBasket tournament.