Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has only coached Kristaps Porzingis in one game, but their tenure is already off to a bizarre start.<\/p>\n
Since being acquired from the Atlanta Hawks prior to the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline, Porzingis has been limited to one game and was out again this past Saturday with what the team listed as a general illness. While speaking with reporters after their Saturday game, Kerr<\/a> admitted he made a \u201cstupid mistake\u201d earlier in the week, when he went on the radio and dismissed Porzingis\u2019 previous diagnosis with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).<\/p>\n Steve Kerr walked back what he said about Kristaps Porzingis\u2019 POTS diagnosis on the radio:<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a stupid mistake by me to talk about something that I\u2019m not even qualified to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n Kerr said he could not disclose specifically what\u2019s going on with Porzingis. pic.twitter.com\/dYxGiJGcna<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) February 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a stupid mistake by me to talk about something that I\u2019m not qualified to talk about,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cSo I regretted even trying to discuss the diagnosis. That was my mistake. And I need to leave that to the professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t really say anything,\u201d Kerr continued regarding the status of Porzingis. \u201cIt\u2019s a medical issue way beyond my capabilities of explaining anything. He\u2019s sick. He won\u2019t play, and we\u2019ll keep monitoring him.\u201d<\/p>\n Porzingis battled a lengthy illness last season with the Boston Celtics, which doctors later identified as POTS. And with the Hawks this season, Porzingis was limited to just 17 games.<\/p>\n During a radio interview on San Francisco\u2019s 95.7 The Game Friday night, Kerr discussed the decision to acquire Porzingis despite his limited action this season and downplayed POTS as a concern.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I heard about the trade, I read about the POTS diagnosis, and then I called Onsi Saleh, who was with us, he\u2019s now Atlanta\u2019s GM,\u201d Kerr said on 95.7 The Game<\/a>. \u201cAnd he\u2019s a good friend of mine. And I called him. I said, \u2018Is this POTS story real?\u2019 He said, \u2018It\u2019s actually not POTS. It was not POTS.\u2019 So that was some misinformation that was out there.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if anybody\u2019s asked him about it, but bottom line is whatever was bothering him in Atlanta that was keeping him out had nothing to do with the illness last week. So he was just sick. There\u2019s a lot going around, as you guys know, and he was sick enough where he was losing a lot of fluid and contagious, so we just kept him home.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to the start of the NBA season, Porzingis spoke to The Athletic<\/a> about managing the illness and its effects. Considering Porzingis has been open about the diagnosis, it was strange to hear Kerr recklessly dismiss the illness publicly without asking his former All-Star center about it first.<\/p>\n \t