Kerr walks back comments on Kristaps Porzingis’ diagnosis
SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis will miss a fourth straight game Saturday night against the Los Angeles Lakers due to what the team considers a general illness.
“I can’t really say much more,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s a medical issue that’s beyond my ability to explain. He’s sick. He won’t play. We’ll continue to monitor him.”
This comes a day after Kerr went on local Bay Area radio and said Porzingis doesn’t actually suffer from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), although Porzingis has publicly detailed his battle with the syndrome over the past year.
The Warriors acquired Porzingis at the February trade deadline from Atlanta for Jonathan Kuminga.
“I heard about the POTS diagnosis and called the Hawks [general manager] Onsi Saleh,” Kerr said. “He’s a good friend of mine and I said, ‘Is this POTS thing real?’ He said it’s actually not POTS. It was misinformation going around.”
Kerr echoed that assumption and assessment Saturday when asked to clarify.
“It was a stupid mistake for me to talk about something that I’m not qualified to talk about,” Kerr said. “Even trying to discuss the diagnosis was a mistake. I have to leave that to the professionals.”
Porzingis began battling a prolonged illness during his final season with the Boston Celtics, later revealing that Boston doctors identified POTS as the cause. He was limited to 17 games this season in Atlanta, in part due to illness.
Porzingis only appeared in one of his first eight games with the Warriors. Kerr said his status for Monday’s game against the Clippers remains to be determined.
