Kristaps Porzingis to 'step away' from NBA amid health concerns

Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Warriors' Kristaps Porzingis to 'step away' from NBA amid health concerns

By Paul White | Last updated Nov 6, 2026 5:57 PM ET

The Golden State Warriors were relying on forward Kristaps Porzingis to be a key contributor this season. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2015 draft played a key role in the Boston Celtics winning a championship in 2024, and Golden State was hoping he could make a similar impact there.

However, he has been dealing with an illness known as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) for the last couple of years, and it prevented him from getting on the court to start this season. It wasn’t an ideal situation for a Warriors team that missed out on big-name targets in the summer like forwards LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Despite knowing Porzingis was dealing with a health issue, Golden State still signed him to a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason. Unfortunately for the team, the decision has blown up in its face.

Kristaps Porzingis steps away from basketball due to POTS diagnosis

Porzingis took to social media on Friday afternoon to announce that he is stepping away from the game of basketball.

pic.twitter.com/d0UoELOmye
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) November 6, 2026

While it reads like a retirement post, Porzingis never specifically stated that he would be retiring. Perhaps he’ll return to the court one day if he is able to get his condition to a stable place, but he won’t be in the NBA for the foreseeable future.

Porzingis was on a path to becoming an excellent player early in his career, making an All-Star team in his third season and increasing his scoring average in each of those years. But a torn ACL early in 2018 sidelined him for the rest of that season and all of 2018-19.

Injuries marred his career after that, as Porzingis has only played 60 games once in the last seven years. His career saw somewhat of a resurgence with the Celtics, but then POTS derailed it once again.

Porzingis was one of the pioneers of the NBA’s spacing revolution as a 7-foot-2 big man who shot a ton of three-pointers. He was once nicknamed “The Unicorn” because of his unprecedented shooting and athleticism at the time.

Porzingis is stepping away from the NBA after 11 seasons through no fault of his own. He was a one-time All-Star and a member of the 2016 All-Rookie first team.

Paul White

Paul White is a contract writer from Philadelphia who attended Penn State University. He has contributed hundreds of stories about the NFL and NBA over the years and now brings that experience over to Yardbarker. He is a lifelong Philadelphia sports fan looking to bring the same passion from his city to sports media.

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