Speaking to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis revealed that the mysterious illness that affected him late in the 2024/25 season and in the playoffs was eventually diagnosed as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. The condition, known as POTS, causes a person’s heart to beat faster than normal when he sits or stands up and can result in extreme exhaustion or dizziness when it goes untreated or undiagnosed.
“You know how people say, ‘Oh, I’m so fatigued.’ I’ve never used those words. I don’t even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that,” Porziņgis said. “At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat.”
According to Katz, after getting a diagnosis confirmed, Porzingis has been able to manage the condition without medication — a high-salt diet and a more regimented resting schedule (off the court) are among the key factors.
Within his larger story about Porzingis and the Hawks, Katz notes that the offseason traded to Atlanta came as a bit of a surprise to the big man, since his agent had been keeping him up to speed on Boston’s trade discussions with three other teams: the Clippers, Spurs, and Suns. While Porzingis may have been surprised to learn of his landing spot, he wasn’t upset about it.
“We are an aspiring team, a young team that aspires to win a championship one day, and that’s the cool part,” Porziņgis said. “Even by the betting odds, we’re not too far off.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Although Tyler Herro expressed last month that he hoped to reach an agreement with the Heat on a contract extension before the season began, he also made it clear he wouldn’t let it affect his play if they couldn’t come to terms, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. As Chiang details, Herro’s window to negotiate an extension will reopen on July 1, 2026 and will remain open either until he signs a new contract or through the entire 2026/27 league year, all the way up until June 30, 2027.
- Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to five rival talent evaluators around the NBA about the upside of the new-look Magic and how the additions of Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones will impact the club. “They finally addressed their shooting, and they addressed it coherently and skillfully and efficiently with the two guys,” one scout said. “… (Jones) is not perfect, but he never makes a mistake, and he makes threes, and he can run a team, and he is a true point guard, which they didn’t have. … KCP didn’t work out, and Bane is younger and better, maybe not quite the defender, not quite as big. But he’s a better play-maker. He’s a good play-maker. He’s got secondary ball-handling skills.”
- The longest-tenured member of the Hornets‘ roster, Miles Bridges has never won more than 43 games in a season or made the playoffs during his time in the NBA, but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for playing in Charlotte, as Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer relays (subscription required). “Man, I love the city of Charlotte,” Bridges said. “I’m happy to be here. I’m just hoping to reward the city with some wins. That’s all I’ve been talking about since I’ve been here. I think this is the year to do it.” The veteran forward added that he’s fully locked in on finding ways to win games this season and isn’t thinking about his individual stats at all: “I want to actually contribute to winning this year. That’s doing what I need to do. Defense, rebound and scoring the ball. I feel like I could do it all. But (it’s about) just helping this team out the right way.”
According to Winderman, Butler recouped approximately half of about $6MM in salary that he forfeited during those suspensions while he was a member of the Heat.
October 17: The Heat have waived big man