The Golden State Warriors said Wednesday that Kristaps Porzingis will remain out indefinitely because of a private health-related issue, a delay that leaves the team without the center it added this summer as it closes the preseason.
For readers tracking Nick Young, the reason this matters is simple: Golden State is nearing its Oct. 21 regular-season opener in Los Angeles, and Porzingis is still not cleared to practice. The Warriors said he will stay around the team, but his return to the court has no timetable.
Porzingis has been trying to explain the gap between how he feels and how the team is handling his status. He said he is working with doctors and experts to figure out how to be fully back to good health as soon as possible, and wrote on social media that he is getting better and better. He also said the situation has been frustrating because the health issue cannot be exactly pinpointed and because injuries throughout his career have added up.
The center's latest visit with the Warriors came Tuesday night, when he returned to the downtown San Francisco facility while his coaches and teammates were in Las Vegas for a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He met with Mike Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini, though the team said the details of that meeting would stay private.
That private meeting followed a stretch in which Porzingis had already missed the first five preseason games and did not attend the trip to Hawaii. He had called Dunleavy on the eve of training camp to say he would not be reporting, and Golden State has since kept him away from practice while waiting for a clearer medical picture. The team said it would update his practice status, playing status and timeline when available and appropriate.
The uncertainty carries extra weight because this is not a new health story for Porzingis. Two seasons ago, he contracted an upper respiratory virus while playing for the Boston Celtics, then was limited to 34 games last season while splitting time between the Atlanta Hawks and the Golden State Warriors. Golden State traded Jonathan Kuminga for him in February and then re-signed him to a two-year, $40 million deal this summer, a contract built to give the team flexibility if the health issues linger.
For now, the Warriors are expected to keep Porzingis around the facility as they finish the preseason, but the football-game style wait for a return does not exist here: he is either cleared or he is not. Right now, the answer is not. Golden State opens the regular season in Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Lakers, and until Porzingis is cleared to practice, that date is the nearest marker on the calendar.
