Last NBA season, while flying to Cleveland for a road game, Kristaps Porzingis noticed his then-teammate Deni Avdija playing chess on his phone.
Porzingis was mesmerized. He had never played chess before, and watching the pieces move, each one a part of an intricate, geometric ballet, captivated him. That night, Porzingis streamed a 30-minute YouTube video explaining the fundamentals of chess and then stayed up until 5 a.m. in his hotel room playing games on the Chess.com app—despite a 7 p.m. tipoff that night.
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