Kristaps Porzingis has missed six of his last seven games and is set to miss the next two weeks with an illness, which Brian Windhorst found “worrisome” for the Atlanta Hawks center’s health and career.
After suffering from what was initially reported as an illness and “post-viral syndrome” at the end of the 2024 season, Porzingis announced that he was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) shortly before the season. POTS is a disorder where the body struggles to properly regulate cardiovascular function. While it is not life-threatening, it is serious and can require a litany of lifestyle changes to treat.
Entering the season, Porzingis reportedly was confident in the management of his symptoms. He said that he felt good and had his energy back. His energetic performance in EuroBasket competition (which included playing in a back-to-back!) backed up his claim.
Porzingis's recent illness is troubling
On The Hoop Collective podcast, Windhorst addressed the news of Porzingis's absence with, “This is worrisome. You're worrying about how it affects him, his life, and potentially career.”
I don’t like to play doctor, and for good reason. NBA medical staff are among the best in the world, and they don’t typically reveal any information beyond what the league requires. If Windhorst and The Hoop Collective crew find this troubling, however, I trust their judgment. All three podcast members have closely covered Porzingis in the past and are well-connected enough to bypass the team's usual filters (although there was no indication that they had any additional information).
Porzingis has had a successful career that culminated in winning the 2024 Finals as the final Infinity Stone in the Gauntlet that was the Boston Celtics. He had a brutal start to his career, tearing his ACL after finally breaking out as a true star in his third season as a pro. Porzingis would redefine his game over the near-decade that followed, first struggling to do so in Dallas before becoming the player we all knew he could be in Boston.
He is consistently described as a guy with an overwhelmingly sunny outlook on life. In the Atlanta Hawks episode of The Young Man and the Three, Onyeka Okongwu and Dyson Daniels had nothing but glowing praise for the big man, again citing the joy that Porzingis brings to any room he enters. How he managed to be such a positive presence despite the truly rotten injury luck he's had can be an inspiration for us all.
We wish the best for Porzingis in his recovery from illness and hope he suits up in a Hawks uniform soon.