The Golden State Warriors have been dealt a blow before the 2026 NBA season has even tipped off after star Kristaps Porzingis was mysteriously ruled out. 

The Warriors will be without Porzingis, 31, for the start of training camp due to a ‘health issue.’ 

General manager Mike Dunleavy announced the news on Monday during the team’s media day, confirming that the starting center will be out ‘indefinitely.’ 

However, the Warriors have remained tight lipped on any further details surrounding Porzingis’s absence. 

‘I’m not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that,’ Dunleavy said, via ESPN. ‘He’s just not available this week. … Disappointed that he won’t be out there tomorrow, but it’s early, so don’t want to overreact to anything.’

Golden State was set to travel to Hawaii on Monday afternoon for the beginning of its training camp. 

Golden State Warriors star Kristaps Porzingis has been ruled out with a health issue

The center has been ruled out indefinitely but the Warriors did not provide further detail

Porzingis will now miss at least the first four practice sessions as well as the Warriors’ preseason opener against the Los Angeles Clippers in Honolulu on Sunday. 

Mysterious health issues have been a recurring theme for the Latvian, who has missed a combined 90 games over the past two regular seasons. 

He suffered with a prolonged upper respiratory viral illness in late February 2025 while playing for the Boston Celtics. 

The Celtics listed him as being out with a ‘non-Covid’ illness at the time before Porzingis took to social media to provide fans with an update. 

‘I have been dealing with some viral illness that we haven’t been able to fully identify yet,’ he said on X at the time. 

‘I am recovering and getting better. But still working my way back to full [strength] to help this team. Thanks for support and Im hoping for a healthy return soon,’ he concluded, as he included a praying-hands emoji and green heart emoji.

He also missed 10 of his first 11 games with the Warriors after they acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks at February’s trade deadline. He did eventually play in 16 of the final 21 games of the 2025-26 season. 

Porzingis signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Warriors this summer. However, only $3million is guaranteed in the second year of the contract. 

The Latvian also missed significant time during the 2024-25 season while with the Celtics

‘He’s been participating in everything,’ Dunleavy said. ‘It just kind of popped up.’ 

Porzingis averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 24 minutes per contest over 32 games last season. 

‘It was surprising,’ Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. ‘This is all part of the season. The health of the team, things happen. So you just roll with it and keep moving forward. We don’t really know what it means. I don’t have a whole lot of information for you. We.. fully expect him to be with us at some point.’ 

The Warriors will also be without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody for the start of the new NBA season. Both are in the midst of continued rehab stints after suffering serious knee injuries.

‘Forget one, but having two guys that aren’t going to be ready to start the season that are key rotation players, really good players,’ Dunleavy said. ‘We’re in a bind in that regard, but I think we’ve done the best we could at improving the roster to a point where we have some depth and we could hold down the fort until those guys come back.’