It’s been just over a week since Kristaps Porzingis made his team debut with the Golden State Warriors, putting up 12 points in 17 minutes while showing off the versatility that led to him being nicknamed “The Unicorn” early in his career.

Though the Stephen Curry-less Warriors fell to the Boston Celtics that day, it was the type of showing that earned him some goodwill. On paper, there was already a lot to like about the trio of Porzingis, Al Horford and Quinten Post. Of course, they can open up the court with their shooting as they’re all true stretch-fives. In a five-out motion offense that emphasizes pace, off-ball action and ball-movement, their playmaking is important as well.

Warriors’ Steve Kerr Corrects Kristaps Porzingis POTS Diagnosis

Unfortunately, at least for the Warriors, Porzingis hasn’t played a game since his debut. Keep in mind that the 30-year-old was acquired by Golden State on Feb. 5 and didn’t get on the court until Feb. 19. That means that in the three-plus weeks that Porzingis has been on the roster, he’s only played one game.

What makes that more concerning than it normally would be is that Porzingis has been dealing with an unspecified illness for over a year. The problems seemingly started last winter when he was with the Boston Celtics, the seven-footer finding himself more fatigued than usual. Initially stumped by the symptoms, doctors eventually settled on postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz (h/t NBA.com).

“Doctors later diagnosed him with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, he said, more commonly referred to as POTS, an autonomic condition that can dramatically increase a patient’s heart rate when standing up instead of spread horizontal. Handled wrong — or not yet diagnosed — and POTS can lead to extreme exhaustion or dizziness.

In his worst moments, Porziņģis’ heart rate could stabilize while he was lying down, but the act of standing up could rev it to 130 beats per minute.”

Ultimately, Porzingis was limited to 42 games in 2024-25, playing in just 10 after February. Though he appeared in every one of the Celtics’ postseason games, he played just 20.9 minutes per contest and was eventually moved from the starting lineup. In the offseason, Porzingis appeared to be turning the corner. While admitting he wasn’t completely over the illness, he was dominating for Latvia in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament.

Then the NBA’s 2025-26 regular season tipped off. As was hoped, he was a terrific fit on the court, elevating Atlanta at both ends. However, his mysterious illness continued to wage war against him. After playing in six of the first nine games of the season, Porzingis couldn’t stay healthy long enough to string more than two games together.

‘That Was Some Misinformation’

Making an appearance on 95.7 The Game’s Willard & Dibs yesterday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked about Porzingis’s health.

“He was really sick last week… He’s feeling better and practiced with us today, so we’ll list him as questionable. The hope is definitely that he’ll be able to play tomorrow.”

After delivering the good news, Kerr then addressed the POTS diagnosis amid questions about whether that’s what was affecting Porzingis.

“When I heard about the trade, I read about the POTS diagnosis and then I called (Atlanta Hawks general manager) Onsi Saleh…” Kerr says. “I called him and I asked: ‘Is this POTS story real?’ He said it’s actually not POTS… So that was some misinformation that was out there.”

Feb 19, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis (7) guards Boston Celtics center Nikola Vucevic (4) during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

At this point, one might have expected Kerr to reveal the official diagnosis. However, due to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Kerr may not be authorized to do so. With that being said, Porzingis’s illness is seemingly so unique that Kerr actually might still not know what it is.

“Bottom line is whatever was bothering him in Atlanta, that was keeping him out, had nothing to do with the illness last week. He was just sick. There’s a lot going around, as you guys know. He was sick enough to where he was losing a lot of fluid and just contagious, so we kept him home but he’s doing a lot better now.”

“I got confirmation that it was not POTS,” Kerr says, “but it was something else that was really difficult to figure out. That’s sometimes the case even in this modern age… sometimes there’s just mysterious stuff.”

© D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images