Mavericks' longtime Luka Doncic co-star is falling apart with no sign of recovery

At one point, the Kristaps Porzingis that we saw in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals was missed by Dallas Mavericks fans. He dominated Dallas as a member of the Boston Celtics when he was on the floor in that series, and fans saw him up close and personal on the biggest stage. Today, Porzingis with the Atlanta Hawks, or any team for that matter, is unplayable.

It's hard to say that he's unplayable because he hasn't been a good enough player, but since last season, he's been battling a condition called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is a chronic cardiovascular disorder that disrupts blood flow and heart rate. When dealing with POTS, patients' heart rates can spike dramatically just from standing up. This can cause dizziness and fatigue.

Mavs fans have gone from laughing at the Celtics losing in the playoffs last season to feeling more sensitive to Porzingis' health. This is too much for Porzingis to recover from, and if he continues to play, his health may become a long-term issue. Either way, Porzingis doesn't seem to be getting better any time soon.

Kristaps Porzingis' condition could jeopardize the rest of his career

It was clear that Boston was going to do something with Porzingis when it was first discovered he was battling health issues. For the last eight months, it seems his health has only gotten worse. From a basketball standpoint, the Mavs are fortunate not to be in the middle of this, but from a health standpoint, you wish for the 7-foot-3 Latvian to be as safe as possible so he can get back on the floor.

His time with the Mavericks, when he was supposed to be Luka Doncic's running mate for years to come, was more remembered for the time he missed than the time he played. He and Doncic had some great moments together, but the two and a half seasons that they played together did not go according to plan.

Mavericks fans resented him for the way he seemingly gave up on his team in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, but the least that they can do now is hope for the best for their former center.

Thankfully, POTS is considered generally not fatal, but it causes extreme dizziness and fatigue. It's still something that needs to be monitored, and it raises the question of whether Porzingis can or should even play basketball beyond this season. The Hawks could explore shipping him out, but for any other team, the harsh truth needs to be told. He's simply unplayable, and the health issues combined with the injury issues are an accident waiting to happen.

Porzingis is on pace to miss nearly half of this season with this condition. Of course, most fans are sensitive to his health and want him to be OK. For the Hawks, it's becoming a burden to have him on and then off the court again.

He has been solid while on the court, as he is averaging 19.2 points per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field, but he clearly isn't himself. It's hard for Porzingis to gain any consistency when he is in and out of the lineup, and his scoring per game is at the lowest point it's been at since the 2016-17 season.

Porzingis is serviceable, but the truth of the matter is that he can't stay on the court. He hasn't played more than 65 games in a season since his second season in the NBA, and Mavericks fans unfortunately know this version of him well.

Even since his days away from Dallas, Porzingis has had multiple injury issues, but this might be the biggest challenge he will ever face. His condition has only gotten worse, and it will be a long time until he looks basketball-relevant again.

The Mavericks made the right decision to ship Porzingis out in 2022, as his inconsistent play, combined with his inability to stay on the court, made any long-term plans extremely risky.

He was supposed to be the big brother to Doncic and make deep playoff runs together, but that never happened. They were never able to win a playoff series together, and the 2021-22 season only worsened Porzingis' image.

Fans all around the NBA wish for Porzingis to recover and return to being his old self, but until he looks NBA-ready again, he only looks like a liability out there on the court. He's doing his best to tough it out, but his condition seems like it's only worsening with no path to recovery any time soon.