Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with an unspecified health issue, but it was his bizarre ‘joke’ about his condition that just sent shockwaves through the Golden State Warriors organization and across the league.
Where in the World Was Kristaps Porzingis?
Dude straight up disappeared. Porzingis went radio silent for the first two weeks of training camp, catching literally everyone in Golden State off guard. Coach Steve Kerr even told reporters he hadn’t seen Porzingis and wasn’t sure where he was. Same with his close friend, Al Horford. It was a complete ghost job.
Then, after all that, he finally met with GM Mike Dunleavy and the team’s VP of player health, Rick Celebrini. The very next day, the Warriors dropped a statement confirming he’s out for a while. They did throw in that he’d “be around the team,” which, okay, good to know he’s not totally vanished again, I guess?
That Wild Post and What It Really Means
Just four minutes after the team’s statement dropped, Porzingis himself hit up X with two posts. First one was pretty standard, saying he’s working with doctors, getting better, just needs patience. He even admitted it’s “frustrating dealing with some health stuff that you can’t exactly pinpoint, on top of injuries throughout my career.” Makes sense, right? This dude has been battling it.
But then, he went *there*. In his second post, he wrote: “I appreciate all the internet doctors trying to diagnose and help, but I’m in the best hands. So everyone can relax now,” complete with a laughing emoji and prayer hands emoji, “and I don’t have hiv or aids.” Seriously? He really dropped that? He’s missed massive chunks of the past two seasons with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which is described as like an “extreme version of standing up and feeling lightheaded, and that doesn’t go away.” Remember last year, when Kerr even called his POTS diagnosis “misinformation” before correcting himself and calling it a “stupid mistake”? And still referred to his condition as “a little mysterious.” This joke, acknowledging “NBA trolls making jokes that he has AIDS,” just adds a whole new layer of weirdness to an already mysterious situation.
More Questions Than Answers For Golden State
Let’s not forget, the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga for this guy last year. He only played one of his first 11 games after that trade. Then, this offseason, he signed a two-year, $40 million contract and was supposed to be the starting center! He was even doing team workouts before camp. All that setup, and then he just vanishes, and now this?
The timing of his meeting with Dunleavy and Celebrini is also kinda sus. A Santa Cruz barber posted on Instagram that he’d given Porzingis a haircut *that very day*. So he was out getting trims while the team was wondering where he was and then drops this kind of statement. What a mess. This whole thing leaves Golden State with a ton of questions and no clear answers, especially with him being out indefinitely.
With Porzingis sidelined and his health status more confusing than ever, the Warriors are facing a massive hole at center. How do they move forward from here, especially with such a bizarre, self-inflicted drama brewing? Golden State fans are probably just shaking their heads, wondering what the heck is going on.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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