nba
Warriors' Porzingis steps away from NBA over lingering health issues
Kristaps Porzingis signed a two-year, $40 million extension with Golden State in June. He never reported to camp. Now he is stepping away from basketball entirely, and the Warriors are withholding his pay.
Golden State Warriors center Kristaps Porzingis announced Friday he is stepping away from basketball because his body cannot perform at the level he expects of himself, ESPN reported.
The announcement is not an official retirement. Porzingis, 30, signed a two-year, $40 million contract extension with the Warriors in late June and said he intended to play this season. But his body did not respond as he tried to ramp up for training camp.
“I’m doing good, but I know what it takes, and I’m not where I want to be to perform at the level I expect of myself,” Porzingis wrote in a social media post.
Two days before the team’s first practice, Porzingis called general manager Mike Dunleavy and said he would not be reporting. The Warriors let him remain away for two weeks, then brought him in for a meeting in early October. He left again after the meeting and has now decided to step away from the NBA entirely.
Draymond Green said the Warriors have moved on. “You can’t sit and worry about spoiled milk,” Green told reporters.
The Warriors are 6-3 with a six-game win streak.
What the coverage missed
ESPN frames this as a health story. It is also a money story and a roster story.
The Warriors are not paying Porzingis his $20 million salary. Neither Porzingis nor the players’ association is contesting that. The Warriors have no plan to void the contract, because keeping it on the books lets them use his salary in a trade before the Feb. 11 deadline.
Porzingis is amenable to a trade. He has only $3 million guaranteed on his deal next season, which makes his contract appealing to a team looking to shed longer-term salary. The expectation is that he would agree to a buyout after a trade, saving the acquiring team money.
The health issues are real. Porzingis contracted a viral illness while playing in Boston two seasons ago and has suffered several leg injuries during an 11-year career. He is 7-foot-2 and has never played more than 72 games in a season.
What I think
The Warriors got better by subtraction. They are on a six-game win streak without Porzingis, and Green’s comment about spoiled milk is the kind of thing a player says when the locker room has already adjusted.
Porzingis will likely be traded before the deadline. His contract is more useful to the Warriors as a trade chip than as a player. Some team will take on the salary, buy him out, and Porzingis will become a free agent. Whether anyone signs him depends on whether his body cooperates, and there is no reason to believe it will.
A 7-foot-2 player with a championship ring and an 11-year career should not be stepping away at 30. But Porzingis has been hurt for most of those 11 years, and the viral illness in Boston appears to have been the tipping point. The NBA has seen bigger players with shorter careers. This one is ending the way most of them do: with the body giving out before the player is ready to admit it.