Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, who is under contract for $30.7MM next season before hitting free agency in 2026, struggled mightily in the playoffs due to the lingering effects of a mysterious illness he contracted in February.
It seemed like Porzingis was mostly recovered late in the regular season, but he was particularly ineffective in Boston’s second-round loss to New York, averaging just 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds on .240/.222/.647 shooting in 15.5 minutes per game. Those numbers are a precipitous drop compared to what he posted in the regular season: 19.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.5 BPG on .483/.412/.809 shooting in 45 contests (28.8 MPG).
After the Celtics were eliminated on Friday night, Porzingis admitted he still doesn’t have any solid answers about what has been causing the “energy zaps” and stamina “ebbs and flows” over the past two-plus months.
“I’m not sure,” Porzingis said, per Brian Robb of MassLive. “I mean, doctors are trying to help as much as possible. It was just some lingering fatigue, some effects.
“It was just extremely weird, and many symptoms that were kind of super weird. So I think nobody has a clear answer. I’ll see how I go from here. Maybe I do some extra testing and some extra stuff and see if we find something. If not, maybe just a reset. Reset for my whole system and that will give my energy levels hopefully back up.”
Porzingis, who played 11 minutes on Friday, said he would have fallen asleep immediately if he had laid down in the locker room after the game, according to Adam Himmselbach of The Boston Globe.
“(It was) super, super frustrating. As frustrating as you can imagine. Just to not be able to help this team more, especially with (Jayson Tatum) going out,” Porzingis said (story via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst). “Not being too much of a help just hurts deep inside.”
“… I tried to give what I had. It wasn’t much, as you could see,” he added, per Himmelsbach.
According to Robb, Porzingis never considered sitting out after he was medically cleared by doctors, who tested his heart, among other organs. He also still plans to play for Latvia at this summer’s EuroBasket.
“The main thing for me now is just to let my system get into a normal state,” Porzingis said. “Get my energy back up and then I’ll start to look into some things maybe outside of basketball at first, and then the European Championships later in the summer, so I’m excited about that.
“So this summer I expect a nice bounce-back for myself and then heading into the next season.”
Good thing this guy ain’t Black or y’all would be at his neck all summer long.
lol
We know Porzingis is for the streets!
… but because he is white, you certainly have something to say….
The fans have been highly critical of Porziņģis since the day he was drafted.
That’s it. Throw race into it. Whiner.
I wonder about Epstein Barr virus…which causes mononucleosis. It’s one of those that stays dormant for life in most people, but not everyone. I had some episodes of unexplained extreme fatigue a few years ago and what we learned was that each time I felt that way (sometimes for weeks on end) my bloodwork indicated active mono. Apparently, this is not unheard of for people with autoimmune disorders.
Oh yeah definitely could be. My first thought was fibromyalgia or some other kind of auto immune issue. He’s always been injury prone and it could definitely be a nervous system thing with how rampant chronic illness/disease is in this country these days
Agree, its my understanding also the Europeans tend to carry a extra chromosome, especially those who reach a abnormal height. Apparently studies show not only do males with this genetic anomaly tend to have bouts of unexplained fatigue, bronchial issues and overall melopia. Amazingly a few over the height of 7 feet have been known to grow a unicorn.
It’s the AIDs. Covers all the symptoms. Great that Trump and RFK threw all the governments resources away.
/has all the symptoms of covid
Hmm what a “mystery” it is! Man has covid but calls it “a mystery”.
It’s actually called The Plague but we called it “covid” because The Plague is scary and bad and it means our scammer govt has to work to save the people from their uneducated selves, which the govt NEVER want to do, because they hate the American people more than anyone.
I don’t care what the illness is, I just hope he gets healthy. Someone’s life and career could be changed for the worst so I want to make sure he gets positive vibes.
wasn’t anything wrong with him
When hasn’t porzingus been weak. Frail since he’s been in league. Nothing deep state here.