Kristaps Porzingis will not take part in the Warriors’ one-week training camp in Hawaii, and Golden State is calling the absence a “health issue.”
General manager Mike Dunleavy told reporters at Monday’s media day that Porzingis is out “indefinitely.” The team learned of the unspecified issue on Sunday, just a day before the season-opening event, and Dunleavy said the big man had been working out normally before then.
“I’m not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that,” Dunleavy said. “He’s just not available this week.”
The Warriors aren’t saying whether the latest absence is tied to the condition that has limited Porzingis over the past two seasons. Porzingis, 31, has previously said he has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, though that diagnosis has been disputed at times.
Dr. Nirav Pandya described POTS to SFGATE in February as “like the extreme version of standing up and feeling lightheaded, and that doesn’t go away,”
Dunleavy declined to get into that connection when asked directly.
“I want to give you as much information as I can always. It’s a health thing that I really can’t comment on.”
This is not unfamiliar territory for Golden State. When the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga for the 7-foot-2 center last year, Porzingis appeared in just one of the first 11 games after arriving.
The situation even created some tension for Steve Kerr, who first said the POTS diagnosis was “ misinformation ” before later apologizing and calling that remark a “ stupid mistake.” Kerr also described the condition as “a little mysterious” while Porzingis was sidelined last season.
Porzingis eventually got on the floor for 14 games over the final five weeks of the regular season, then turned in a strong showing in the first play-in game against the Clippers. He scored 20 points in nearly 28 minutes and added five rebounds, five assists and two blocks, production that helped convince the Dubs to bring him back on a two-year, $40 million deal.
Golden State’s roster has changed very little since last season’s 10th-place finish in the West, and the team is already bracing for long stretches without Jimmy Butler, who has a torn ACL, and Moses Moody, who has a torn patellar tendon. Another injury question hanging over the group only sharpens the pressure on how the Warriors plan to push for a playoff spot this season.
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