Kristaps Porzingis Reacts to Steve Kerr Commenting on His Illness Diagnosis

After the Golden State Warriors' 104-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a reporter asked Kristaps Porzingis how he felt about Steve Kerr commenting on his illness 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 OK.’ 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 OK, honestly.”

On Feb. 27, Kerr said in an interview on 95.7 The Game that he heard Porzingis doesn't have POTS.

"I read 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 story real?' He said it's actually not POTS. That was some misinformation that was out there."

On Feb. 28, Kerr said he regretted saying anything about Porzingis' illness.

"It was a stupid mistake by me to talk about something I'm not qualified to talk about," Kerr said. "Even trying to discuss the diagnosis, that was a mistake. I need to leave that to professionals."

Kerr added: "I can't really say anything more on it. It's a medical issue way beyond my capabilities explaining anything. He's sick. He won't play. We will keep monitoring him."

Warriors' Immediate Plan for Porzingis Revealed

Porzingis returned to the Warriors lineup on Saturday, totaling nine points, five rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes. It was Porzingis' second game since Jan. 7. He's been dealing with Achilles tendinitis as well as this illness.

"I believe I will be healthy now," Porzingis told reporters after the game. "This is how I really feel."

ESPN's Anthony Slater wrote on X that the Warriors plan to rest Porzingis for Monday's game against the Jazz before getting him back into the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Bulls.

It makes sense that the Warriors don't want to risk playing Porzingis on both legs of a back-to-back. If that line of thinking doesn't change, he's guaranteed to miss five of the Warriors' final 19 games.

That would mean the best-case scenario is he plays 14.

To be clear, that seems unlikely. He's played just 19 games this season, so playing about 75 percent of the remaining games would be surprising.

But Porzingis' optimism at least gives a glimmer hope for his rest-of-the-season status.