SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr misspoke when he called Kristaps Porzingis’ postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome diagnosis “misinformation” in a radio appearance Friday.
Before the Warriors hosted the Lakers on Saturday, the Golden State coach said he made a “stupid mistake” trying to discuss POTS, the nervous system disease that has been reported to have complicated the 7-foot-2 center’s career.
Porzingis was ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Lakers after being listed as questionable, missing his third consecutive game with an illness that Kerr said was contagious and causing him to lose “a lot” of fluids.
In an appearance on 95.7 FM on Friday, Kerr said that not only was Porzingis’ absence unrelated to his previous diagnosis, he said Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh told him that Porzingis doesn’t suffer from POTS, at all.
Saleh formerly worked in Golden State’s front office and Kerr called him a “good friend.” The Warriors acquired Porzingis from Atlanta for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
“I called him and I said is this POTS story real? He said it’s actually not POTS. That was some misinformation that was out there,” Kerr told the radio station. “I don’t know if anybody’s asked him about it. Bottom line is whatever was bothering him in Atlanta that was keeping him out has nothing to do with the illness last week. He was just sick.”
On Saturday, Kerr walked back those comments, calling Porzingis’ illness a “medical issue way beyond my capabilities of explaining.”
“It was a stupid mistake by me to talk about something that I’m not qualified to talk about,” Kerr said. “So I regretted even trying to discuss the diagnosis. That was my mistake. I need to leave that to the professionals.”
Porzingis has been limited to 17 minutes in one game since joining the Warriors. He played only 42 games last season with the Celtics in part because of the disease that can rapidly increase a patient’s heartbeat while standing upright.
Porzingis told The Athletic last year that doctors diagnosed him with POTS.
Kerr said he hasn’t discussed the specifics of the diagnosis with Porzingis and declined to commit to his status for the Warriors’ next game, Monday against the Clippers.
The 7-footer returned to practice on Friday and Kerr said he was feeling better.
“We’ll keep monitoring him,” Kerr said.
