Kristaps Porziņģis’ time with the Warriors has taken a stark turn, and now his NBA future is suddenly in doubt.
The veteran big man, who signed a two-year, $40 million extension with Golden State in June, has not played since then. In October 2025, he revealed that he was dealing with POTS, or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that affects functions like heart rate, blood pressure and circulation.
Now, less than a year after that disclosure, Porziņģis says he is stepping away from basketball.
“This season I was really looking forward to running it with this group, but as I ramped up, my body didn’t respond the way I anticipated,” Porziņģis wrote on Twitter/X. “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.”
The Warriors said on Oct. 21 that Porziņģis would not be around the organization for the immediate future, and the team did not offer any further details about his medical status or when he might return.
ESPN, citing unnamed team sources, reported that Golden State “have no plan to void Porziņģis’ contract, per team sources, as they continue to survey the league’s yet-to-materialize trade market in an effort to eventually improve a team that has jumped out to a 6-3 start with an ongoing six-game win streak.”
Porziņģis’ career has taken him through six teams over 10 NBA seasons. He made his lone All-Star team with the New York Knicks in 2017-18. Along the way, he also played for the Warriors and Knicks from 2015-18, the Dallas Mavericks from 2019-22, the Washington Wizards from 2022-23, the Boston Celtics from 2023-25 and the Atlanta Hawks in 2026.
ESPN’s Shams Charania had previously reported that Porziņģis was seriously considering stepping away from professional basketball as he continued to deal with recurring health issues.
If this is the end, Porziņģis would leave the league with career averages of 19.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks across 533 regular season games. In the playoffs, he averaged 12.3 points in seven games for the 2024 NBA champion Celtics, the team with which he won his only title.
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