Full details about the unusual illness that Kristaps Porzingis dealt with last season have finally emerged.
The new Atlanta Hawks big man Porzingis had “POTS,” Fred Katz of The Athletic reported Wednesday. “POTS,” which stands for postural tachycardia syndrome, is an autonomic condition that can dramatically increase a patient’s heart rate when they are standing up, Katz noted.
Porzingis told Katz that his heart rate would stabilize when he was lying down but spiked up to 130 beats per minute simply when he stood up. As a result, Porzingis dealt with extreme fatigue and was having a hard time running and even breathing.
The former All-Star did also say though that he did not believe that “POTS” would be an issue for him moving forward as he is now managing it with treatments and changes to his diet. You can read Katz’s full report on the situation here.
Now 30 years old, Porzingis was significantly hampered by his condition last season with the Boston Celtics, especially during the second half. He missed eight games in March due to the illness, and there were plenty of concerning signs about the lingering effects for Porzingis from there while he only managed 7.7 points in 21.0 minutes per game during the postseason.
In June, the Celtics decided to send Porzingis to the Hawks in a three-team trade with the Brooklyn Nets. Now entering the final year of his contract at $30.7 million, Porzingis sounds confident that the mystery illness is finally behind him (as he is even eyeing a high-intensity career for after his basketball days are over).
