Kristaps Porzingis
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Kristaps Porzingis of the Golden State Warriors.
After missing the last six games, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Golden State Warriors‘ lineup on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Porzingis also commented on Steve Kerr’s recent remarks about his POTS diagnosis during his time with the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks.
Saturday’s 104-97 loss to the Thunder was Porzingis’ second game in a Warriors jersey after dealing with an illness following his debut on February 19. He played 23 minutes off the bench, finishing with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and one block.
It was a competitive matchup despite the Warriors not having Steph Curry, who remains out with a runner’s knee. Gui Santos, Brandin Podziemski and Draymond Green all scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the defending NBA champs from earning the victory.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder with 27 points, five rebounds and five assists. The reigning MVP hit the dagger sidestep 3-point shot over Green with 42.4 seconds remaining.
Porzingis Comments on Kerr’s POTS Remarks
The Warriors were never clear about his diagnosis since it was reported as a general illness. Porzingis battled with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, over the past year or so.
Coach Kerr appeared on Willard & Dibs on 95.7 The Game last week and revealed that Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh told him that Porzingis’ POTS diagnosis was misinformation, as reported by Anthony Slater of ESPN.
However, Kerr would later retract his remarks about Porzingis’ diagnosis because he wasn’t qualified to talk about anything medical related.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Porzingis discussed his return and how he was feeling after battling an illness for more than two weeks. He was also asked about his thoughts on Kerr’s comments about his diagnosis.
“Yeah, it wasn’t ideal,” Porzingis said. “He put something out again so people could start talking about this. I told Steve like, ‘It’s okay.’ I know he didn’t mean anything. He didn’t want to create some hype around my health. He just said whatever he knew at the moment, and it’s okay, honestly.”
Porzingis added that the most important thing is that he felt good in his first game back. He has peace of mind about his health, and it’s all about moving forward and getting better each game.
Green Loves Playing With Porzingis
In his postgame media availability, Green was pretty stoked about playing with Porzingis despite their loss. Green felt “fresh” since he was able to play with a center and not exert more effort than he needed to at the age of 36.
“I love it. It’s great having more size, and we’ll get more and more comfortable with it,” Green said. “It’s still fresh… We’ll get better and better and figure out more and more. I think when you have more size out there, you’re just able to cover up more. You’re able to cover up more mistakes, and then it closes gaps as well when you have more length.”
The Warriors are back in action on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. It’s the end of their three-game road trip, and they will be back in the Bay Area on Tuesday for a two-game homestand.