As the Golden State Warriors announced that Kristaps Porzingis will continue to be out indefinitely with an unspecified health issue, the center released a statement of his own with a distasteful joke about his condition.
Porzingis effectively disappeared from the Warriors for the first two weeks of training camp, something that appeared to catch everyone around Golden State by surprise. In fact, both coach Steve Kerr and Porzingis' close friend on the team, Al Horford, told reporters they had not seen Porzingis and were not even sure where he was.
On Tuesday, Porzingis met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and the team's renowned vice president of player health and performance Rick Celebrini. The next day, the Warriors put out a statement addressing Porzingis' status, making it clear he will not be playing basketball for a while. It specifically noted, however, that Porzingis "will be around the team."
Warriors statement on Kristaps Porzingis: https://t.co/Pdj4aM1Kes
- Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) October 14, 2026
Four minutes later, Porzingis also put out a statement of his own in two posts on X.
"Hello people, I'm working with doctors and experts to figure out how to be fully back to good health asap. Honestly, I'm getting better and better. I just have to stay patient, and I believe I'll be feeling great again soon," Porzingis wrote in the first post. "It has definitely been frustrating dealing with some health stuff that you can't exactly pinpoint, on top of injuries throughout my career, so it has added up for sure, but we will get through it. Health is wealth. Thank you for all the support."
While the tone of that post was straightforward, Porzingis then added a second post: "I appreciate all the internet doctors trying to diagnose and help, but I'm in the best hands. So everyone can relax now," Porzingis wrote, with a laughing emoji and a prayer hands emoji, "and I don't have hiv or aids."
I appreciate all the internet doctors trying to diagnose and help, but I'm in the best hands. So everyone can relax now 😄🙏🏼 and I don't have hiv or aids.
- Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) October 14, 2026
Porzingis has missed significant chunks of the past two NBA seasons amid a diagnosis for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. POTS is a neurological condition that is "like the extreme version of standing up and feeling lightheaded, and that doesn't go away," Dr. Nirav Pandya told SFGATE in February.
When the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga for the 7-foot-2 center last year, Porzingis played in only one of the first 11 games he was on the Warriors' roster. It even put Kerr in a bit of hot water, after he first said the POTS diagnosis was "misinformation" before he chided himself for saying that and called his own quote a "stupid mistake." Still, Kerr referred to Porzingis' condition as "a little mysterious" when he was missing games last year.
Porzingis signed a two-year, $40 million contract to stay with the Warriors this offseason and was expected to be the team's starting center. He was also participating in team workouts during the run-up to training camp. That combination is what made his disappearance all the more troublesome. And even when he was set to meet with Dunleavy and Celebrini, a Santa Cruz barber posted on Instagram that Porzingis had come into his shop for a haircut that day.
But with that and many other questions still lingering, Porzingis decided to acknowledge the NBA trolls making jokes that he has AIDS. And that doesn't even factor in the millions who aren't as online who will now wonder what Porzingis is talking about with the joke.
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This article originally published at Warriors' Kristaps Porzingis makes distasteful joke in his latest health update.