Porzingis Steps Away From Basketball to Prioritise Health
Golden State Warriors centre Kristaps Porzingis has announced he is stepping away from basketball to prioritise his health, bringing a halt to a season that never got started.
The 31-year-old Latvian released a statement on social media on Friday, saying his body had not responded as he anticipated while he prepared for the new campaign. Porzingis has not played a game for the Warriors this season and had already been away from the team throughout training camp and the preseason.
“This season I was really looking forward to running it with this group,” Porzingis wrote, “but as I ramped up, my body didn’t respond the way I anticipated. I’m doing good, but I know what it takes, and I’m not where I want to be to perform at the level that I expect from myself. At this point, I’ve made the decision to prioritize my health and step away from the game I love.”
He added that he wanted to show “the utmost respect for the Golden State Warriors” and work with the club “to find a solution that makes sense”.
Not a retirement, for now
Porzingis was careful with his language. He did not announce his retirement, gave no return date and disclosed no specific diagnosis in his statement. His NBA career is, for now, on pause rather than over.
The distinction matters. Porzingis revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, known as POTS, a condition that affects blood flow and can cause dizziness, fatigue and a racing heart. He has missed large parts of the past two seasons with health problems that are not linked to a single on-court injury, and Reuters reported that the Warriors had described his current absence as an undisclosed health issue.
That history made Friday’s announcement less of a shock inside the league than it might otherwise have been, but it still closes the door, at least for the foreseeable future, on a player whose talent has rarely been in doubt.
A season that never started
Porzingis joined Golden State in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks in February and played 15 games for the Warriors in the closing stretch of last season. He then agreed a two-year, $40 million contract extension in June, a deal that suggested both sides expected him to be a central part of the team’s plans.
Instead, the season unravelled before it began. General manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said on 28 September that Porzingis would be out indefinitely at the start of training camp. On 21 October, the Warriors said he would not be with the team “for the immediate future”. He has not suited up since, and the statement on Friday confirmed that the ramp-up to playing again had not gone as hoped. The timing stung: the NBA season and college basketball’s opening week arrived with Golden State already short-handed in the frontcourt.
For a player who helped the Boston Celtics win the NBA championship in 2024, it is a frustrating end to a summer that began with a new contract and high expectations.
The contract question
Porzingis’s decision also leaves Golden State with a difficult piece of business to resolve. His contract pays $20 million a season, but only $3 million is guaranteed for the second year, and ESPN reported this week that the Warriors had stopped delivering his semimonthly salary payments on the grounds that he is not rendering the services required by his contract.
The Warriors are not planning to void the deal, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, and they remain able to use his salary in a trade before February’s deadline. Sports Illustrated reported that the club has no plans to act hastily, with the trade market not properly opening until 15 December, when players who signed new contracts over the summer become eligible to be moved.
Porzingis remains eligible to be traded even while he is away from the game, and ClutchPoints reported on Friday that he is expected to be moved within the next 30 to 40 days. For now, though, the likeliest outcome is that Golden State waits, keeping its options open while the player focuses on his health.
What it means for Golden State
On the court, the Warriors have coped without him. They sit at 6-3 this season, with Stephen Curry passing Oscar Robertson on the NBA’s all-time scoring list during a run of six straight wins, and the team’s supporting cast stepping up in Porzingis’s absence.
That form softens the sporting blow, but it does not remove the wider question. Golden State built its frontcourt around a 7-foot-2 centre who could stretch the floor and protect the rim, and replacing that skill set mid-season is never straightforward. The trade market may offer answers in December, but the Warriors’ first concern, publicly at least, is the player himself.
Porzingis closed his statement by thanking the game he loves. Whether he returns to it, and in whose colours, is now an open question with no timetable attached.
