Kristaps Porzingis says his body isn't working right due to illness' weird symptoms and feels he just needs rest and sun to reset his system, adding, "It's very frustrating time for me. ... It really, really sucks."
Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis struggled throughout the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and his difficult run ended Friday night at Madison Square Garden with a 119-81 loss to the New York Knicks. This loss also sealed the Celtics' second-round series defeat 4-2.
Player of the Game
Jalen Brunson
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Jalen Brunson
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Porzingis was dealing with a mysterious illness that mainly affected his performance.
"I always try to downplay it in my own mind," he told reporters after Game 6. "It's like, 'I'm good, I'm good.' I don't know, my system is not perfect right now. It's not working the way it should be.
"Many weird things, and it might be that the best thing I need right now is just rest," he added. "Get somewhere in the sun and let my system kind of even itself out. But it's definitely a very, very frustrating time for me.
"Just not being too much of a help, it just hurt deep inside. It sucks. It really really sucks."
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The Latvian star scored only four points on 1-for-4 shooting in the Game 6 blowout loss and played just 11 minutes and 30 seconds. Earlier in the season, an upper respiratory illness forced him to miss eight consecutive games in late February and early March.
To this day, Porzingis isn't sure what exactly caused his problems.
"I'm not sure," Porzingis said. "The doctors are trying to help as much as possible, but it was just some lingering fatigue, some effects. And even right now -- I played 11 minutes, but I'm gassed right now. Like, I could just lay down over here and just take a little nap, easy, which is extremely weird, and many symptoms that were kind of super weird.
"So, I think nobody has a clear answer," he continued. "I'll see how I go from here. Maybe I do some extra testing, some extra stuff, and see if we find something, but if not, maybe just a reset for my whole system, and hopefully that will get my energy levels back up."
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Porzingis also confirmed that he wasn't risking serious complications by playing and that the doctors didn't advise shutting him down.
"I got the approval from the doctors that they don't believe anything serious can happen," Porzingis said. "They tested my heart and everything, then it was just a matter of, how much can I give? I tried to give what I had, but it wasn't much, as you could see.
"But, yeah, there's no bigger risk, so I was able to play."
Porzingis' future with the Celtics remains uncertain.
Reports say he could be on the trade block this offseason. He will enter the final year of his contract in 2025-26 with a $30.7 million salary.
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