From ESPN's Anthony Slater today:
"We always said availability was a big factor for our team with all the guys we have out," Curry said. "It's no secret that the [center] spot is an important one for us, especially with his skill set. It's hard to talk about without keeping the humanity of it in mind. But it is a tough one to figure out."
Team sources continue to express an extreme level of pessimism that Porzingis will ever play for the Warriors again, but he could end up helping the organization in another way, because his contract, which is only guaranteed for $3 million next season, could still prove to be valuable in executing a trade.
Porzingis was in the practice facility getting court work the week prior to training camp and attended Jimmy Butler's player-led event in San Diego in late September. But optimism faded as team sources in attendance described Porzingis as indifferent and uninterested in participating in scrimmages and strenuous on-court prep work at the event -- a blaring signal of what was on the horizon.
Porzingis called Dunleavy and stepped away from the team on the eve of training camp to deal with what they deemed a private health matter. The Warriors gave him some space initially but expected him to return to the facility and be around his teammates and the medical staff, team sources said.
After a meeting with Celebrini and Dunleavy in early October, the team sent out a statement declaring he would be around. It didn't last. Porzingis hasn't returned to the facility and the organization shifted his official status from out with "general illness" (as they'd listed during his absences last season) to "not with team," a purposeful change. This can no longer be described as an excused absence for the center.
Porzingis' unwillingness to be present at the Warriors' facility could be deemed a failure to render his services -- a reality that has been raised internally, sources said -- and could be used in an attempt to void his entire contract. But that would present its own complications, unless Porzingis expressed an intention to retire and willingly gave all the money back.
I have suspected that the Warriors do not believe Porzingis has POTS, and this article seems to confirm it.
After the Warriors traded for Porzingis last year, Kerr came out and said that 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."
Kerr then walked it back the next day, but didn't say that Porzingis actually has POTS:
"I can't really say anything more on it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "It's a medical issue way beyond my capabilities explaining anything. He's sick. He won't play. We will keep monitoring him."
"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."
The article from Shams a couple weeks ago further convinced me that the Warriors don't believe Porzingis has POTS.
Two seasons ago, Porzingis contracted an upper respiratory virus while playing for the Boston Celtics, and he has since vaguely revealed the lingering impact it has had on his energy level and ability to consistently play NBA basketball. Porzingis has termed it a POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) diagnosis, which can lead to bouts of dizziness, fatigue and brain fog.
After missing the first two weeks of training camp and the entire preseason, Porzingis drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco last Tuesday, league sources said, to meet with Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini, the franchise's lead medical decision maker.
In the aftermath, the team announced that they'd keep the details of the meeting private, but expressed an expectation that Porzingis would remain around the team as he tried to improve his health and eventually resume his career.
But that hasn't been the case. Porzingis hasn't returned to the facility, league sources said, beginning another indefinite leave of absence where he is mostly maintaining contact with only Dunleavy and Celebrini. The Warriors listed him as out for the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night and the reasoning as "not with team" instead of an illness.
It says Porzingis says it's POTS, but the team has never said that. The team also says they wont disclose what happened in their meeting with him, which is bizarre.
I don't know what they think he has -- whether they think it's a different ailment or if it's all in his head -- but they don't believe him about POTS. Given what Kerr said about his conversation with Hawks GM Saleh, it doesn't sound like the Hawks believed him either.
