Kristaps Porziņģis has played in only one game for the Warriors since being acquired from the Hawks on Feb. 5. D. Ross Cameron / Imagn
March 2, 2026Updated 9:53 pm EST
SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors big man Kristaps Porziņģis will miss his fifth straight game because of an illness on Monday night, and it remains unclear when he will be able to see the floor again. Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged prior to Monday’s game against the LA Clippers that the organization still doesn’t have clarity on exactly what kind of illness Porziņģis is dealing with.
“Not really,” Kerr said. “It’s a little mysterious. We’re obviously working with him, and he can get some clarity, and he can kind of break through, and he can get to a point where he’s consistently healthy, but that’s something that the medical staff is working hard on with him. I’m not going to posit any medical theories anymore.”
Porziņģis was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks just before last month’s trade deadline in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield. After playing 17 minutes against the Boston Celtics on Feb. 19, Porziņģis has not been able to play since. Kerr and the Warriors were optimistic that Porziņģis would be able to play again after going through Friday’s practice, but he did not play on Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers and remained out.
Porziņģis told The Athletic’s Fred Katz last October, that he had been diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and that was what was impacting his play over the last year. When the Warriors acquired Porziņģis they were outwardly confident that they could help him stay of the floor — he has played just 60 games over the last two seasons — but they haven’t been able to completely identify what is causing the issues now. Kerr said during a Friday radio interview on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco that he was told by Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh that Porzingis didn’t have POTS — but then walked those comments back prior to Saturday’s game by saying he had made a “stupid mistake” by trying to speak about the condition. Kerr held to that stance prior to Monday’s game as well, deflecting a question as to whether or not the Warriors know whether Porziņģis’ latest illness is related to the POTS diagnosis.
“Whenever (Warriors VP of Player Health and Performance) Rick Celebrini comes back up here behind the mic, you can ask Rick … I’m not qualified. At least he’s qualified.”
What makes the uncertainty around Porzingis even more intense is the fact Kuminga has had three consecutive strong games to start his Hawks’ tenure. Traded by Golden State on Feb. 5, Kuminga made his Hawks debut on Feb. 24 and has averaged 21.3 points on 67.7 percent shooting while making 55.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. In that span, he’s averaged 7.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals as Atlanta has won all three of his appearances with the team.
Mar 3, 2026
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