Is Porzingis saying, “I really, really believe” the 2.0 version of “We Believe”?
[GSW-OKC videos/interviews/transcripts]
Kristaps Porzingis postgame after the loss at OKC, while pushing back on how long ago he was diagnosed with POTS — btw, Fred Katz of The Athletic came out with the article on October 22, 2025:
Kristaps, did you get clarity from the medical staff as to whether the illness that you’ve been dealing with was related to what you’ve been going through the last couple years, or was it something completely separate on it, so— ?
Last couple years, huh? Two years? No, no, not that long. Don’t say it like that, but yes, yes. I mean, somewhat. Yes, so, but yes and no. That’s why I’m so confident now that I’ll feel good, honestly, because this summer I was already fine, so I don’t wanna go too much into it, you know? But I’m happy that I’m feeling good now. And I really believe, like, really, really believe that from this point on, I’ll be healthy in terms of the energy and that, so, so that’s good.
So you have peace of mind— you have peace of mind from the training staff in the last couple weeks, is what you’re saying?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, honestly, since I got here, yeah. They’ve been super, super, like, kind of supportive and obviously everybody just wants me to be healthy, right? And they did everything possible and found a solution pretty, pretty quickly, I would say. So yeah, it’s good. I don’t wanna go too much into. It’s nothing crazy, but still I wanted— I need to feel good to play, you know? And now I feel like from this point on, I’ll just build on top of this.
The entire transcript is below.
One other note: Boston beat writer Noa Dalzell of CLNS hopped on when the Celtics were in town and noted the honesty of Porzingis in interviews (see timestamps, pregame):
And every interview it seems like he says the adverb “honestly” almost a dozen times. So, if anything, we can be sure he’s probably speaking from the heart when exuding confidence that Rick Celebrini and the Warriors’ performance staff have come up with a “solution” and “pretty quickly” at that, and that this is somehow sustainable.
#WeReallyReallyBelieve!
Shout out, Paul Wong!
Friendly reminder, how we feel is a choice and so I’ll choose to “really, really believe,” as well, until proven otherwise. After all, this thing that I do is called Let’s go Warriors, not Let’s doubt the Warriors.
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Full interviews with captions and transcripts postgame Thunder, below…
00:00 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-OKC: I’m sorry?
00:01 How’d you think Kristaps looked?
00:03 I thought he looked like a guy who hadn’t played in a little bit, rhythm wise, but I thought he looked great physically. Really encouraging night, for him to play 23 minutes and I talked to him after the game. He said he felt good and so it was really, really fun to see him. You can see what kind of weapon he is and the size he gives us and, obviously, we’re just figuring out combinations and actions we wanna run with him, for him. So it’ll take a little time, but really encouraging to see him out there and I was just so impressed with our guys’ fight. We were right there. I know both teams were banged up, but to come in here and give ourselves a chance, that’s the common thread right now. It feels like we are giving ourselves a chance every night, despite all the injuries and the guys are really competing well together.
01:06 You mentioned some of the actions that seemed like Draymond kind of fed Porzingis, kind of high-low type stuff. I mean, is that some of the— ?
01:15 Yeah, for sure, but he’s really good spacing the floor, too. And just on the weak side, we don’t have to play through him. We can, but we can also just play pick-and-roll on the other side of the floor. And he keeps his man occupied and the spacing that he provides really gives us a lot of opportunities.
01:39 How much of an impact is it just to be able to throw the ball down to him? And I think he drew three or four fouls in that first half in pretty limited minutes.
01:47 Yeah. I mean, to be able to throw it to him and Al, it’s a good way to gain an advantage. I mean, that’s all you’re trying to do offensively, is find a way to gain an advantage, make the defense rotate, and both guys are able to do that and they’re gonna get us a lot of open looks.
02:03 You had both of them, Draymond and Gui on floor at one point, late. How interesting, maybe fun, is it for you to try these bigger lineups?
02:13 Yeah, I mean, I doubt that we’ll see that one a whole lot. Tonight, it was just a matter of let’s just put our best players on the floor down the stretch. And LJ was on a minutes restriction, couldn’t play him anymore. It just felt like, why not just put our best players on the floor, sort it out. Thought we got some decent looks, had a couple threes open, threes to cut it to one in the last few minutes and we just needed to make make a couple shots and put some pressure on them to make them, feel the strain of being behind or being tied and we just couldn’t quite get there.
02:59 What’s the domino effect defensively when Draymond is guarding primary scorers like he has the last few games?
03:04 Well, first of all it, I think it excites him when we give him a task of you guard the best player. I think he loves it. He’s so up for the challenge. He’s still one of the great defensive players in the game and the last few games, you think about it, between Shai and Kevin and the game before that, Kawhi, I mean, he’s guarded three of the hardest guys on Earth and done a phenomenal job. And I thought, overall, we did a good job on Shai as a team, but the 15 free throws ultimately hurt us. That was that was kind of the difference in the game. You look at the stat sheet and we did a great job on the offensive glass. We took care of the ball. Our process was great. The only thing defensively was, they made 23 free throws to our 11 and that was the difference.
04:01 And to follow on that, just for Draymond guarding primary scorers, is that a role you see him in moving forward, especially having Al and Kristaps anchoring help?
04:08 For sure, for sure. Give Draymond the toughest task and have a big guy behind him. It’s a good formula.
04:16 On the free throw disparity, a few coaches have been vocal about playing OKC this year. What is the game plan against them in terms of trying to limit your fouls and what can be frustrating about playing them?
04:30 Well, he’s incredibly clever and he knows exactly how to draw contact and it’s all within the rules. And I don’t have a problem with Shai. I have a problem with the rules, so I just think that we, as a league, too much off arm. We hardly allow the defense to do anything guarding the ball, so if you allow the offensive player to push off with the off arm to create space, it makes it really tough defensively because you can’t put your arm in, if you put your arm in everybody around the league will do what Shai does, what James Harden does. Like, they’ll hook your arm and they’ll do that and it’s all part of the rules, so more power to all the individual players, but as a league, we need to adapt and adjust. The players are just, year after year, they just take advantage of the rules and they’re smart and they they know what they’re doing.
05:29 Kristaps, is he gonna play Monday or is it there are benchmarks or things you’re gonna check for in the next 24, 48 hours?
05:34 He will not play. Monday he’ll play— the plan is to play him Tuesday, yeah.
05:44 Steve, we didn’t get into it as much before the game, but what did you guys see in the last few days that led you to feel comfortable that he was ready to go again?
05:57 I just listened to the training staff, so he’s had a couple workouts and training staff said he’s feeling better and so he was ready to go. Thanks guys.
—
06:08 How have the last few days been and how’d you kind of know you would be ready to go tonight?
06:15 KRISTAPS PORZINGIS: Yeah, I felt like my body’s coming back to where I need to be. Just got, honestly, just one workout then and felt pretty decent, so I just wanna get out, like, especially getting traded somewhere else, like, I wanted to get out there as soon as possible. And honestly, so sitting out a couple games was, like, stinging me a little bit, but today was okay. Obviously, felt a little heavy and shots a little bit not in a good rhythm, yet. And missing free throws and all that, but I’m gonna build from this game and I think I’ll be looking better and better with each game.
06:57 How would you describe what you kind of went through the last couple weeks and, I guess, why you weren’t able to be out there?
07:04 Yeah, just some health stuff, a little bit. And I believe I will be healthy now, honestly. This is what I really feel and not to sell anything because obviously I’ve been in and out and out again, but this time I really feel that this, this is it. And yeah, finally getting out there, like, healthy, I was like playing through this. I think now this will be— obviously it’s only 20 games left or so, but in the regular season, so, but I wanna catch a really good rhythm and then see if we can do something in the postseason. So I’m excited for the opportunity, excited to play with these guys and look forward to, yeah, getting in top shape and looking really good.
07:51 I think it was the first quarter, you go to the bench and you go to Draymond right as you come out. You and him are talking for a minute. Just how have the veterans on this team kinda helped you, I guess, assimilate into the locker room as a team?
08:03 Yeah, no, it’s been good, honestly. Like, Draymond is super, super vocal. And honestly, he really know how to play basketball. Just the reads he make, like now, like how quickly he is to adjust to my post-ups and flashing and doing this. And he reads the game so well. He’s so experienced, honestly, that it’s nice to play with somebody so experienced and so knowledgeable about the game. And then obviously, yeah, we are having conversations. Like, he’s helping me to kinda get accustomed to the team and what we’re running and offense and defense and this and that, so I’ve been kind of, yeah, just whenever I have a question, he’s the guy that can give me some good like insight on what we want.
08:49 Kristaps, did you get clarity from the medical staff as to whether the illness that you’ve been dealing with was related to what you’ve been going through the last couple years, or was it something completely separate on it, so— ?
09:03 Last couple years, huh? Two years? No, no, not that long. Don’t say it like that, but yes, yes. I mean, somewhat. Yes, so, but yes and no. That’s why I’m so confident now that I’ll feel good, honestly, because this summer I was already fine, so I don’t wanna go too much into it, you know? But I’m happy that I’m feeling good now. And I really believe, like, really, really believe that from this point on, I’ll be healthy in terms of the energy and that, so, so that’s good.
09:37 So you have peace of mind— you have peace of mind from the training staff in the last couple weeks, is what you’re saying?
09:43 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, honestly, since I got here, yeah. They’ve been super, super, like, kind of supportive and obviously everybody just wants me to be healthy, right? And they did everything possible and found a solution pretty, pretty quickly, I would say. So yeah, it’s good. I don’t wanna go too much into. It’s nothing crazy, but still I wanted— I need to feel good to play, you know? And now I feel like from this point on, I’ll just build on top of this.
10:10 Was there anything specific you had to do to recover or was it just rest?
10:14 A little bit of both. A little bit of both. Again, I don’t wanna go too much into it, you know? But the team knows they did everything to help me and I’m good now and I think I can put this behind me and just kind of go forward and prove that I’m healthy, I’m getting back in good shape and that’s the most important.
10:39 How’d 23 minutes feel? I know 17 the first time. 23 feel okay tonight?
10:44 Oof, oof. A little bit, for sure. Like, leg— like, I feel heavy, like, honestly. Like, probably I’ll watch film and I’ll be disgusted by how I move, you know? But I’ll get there. Like, my legs— get my legs real, like, under me, so I can move the way I want to and open up my lungs more, get a little more cardio in and there’s no, like, other way how to really get it, is by playing. You can do as much cardio as you want, but being on the court and actually having that intensity is different, so I think, yeah, 23 was okay. I always wanna play more anyway, even if I’m gassed. But for first game, I think it was good just getting one practice in, so I think next game, more minutes, hopefully, and then back to the game real quick.
11:31 Draymond guarded Shai quite a bit. He guarded Kawhi, Kevin recently. What does that do for you guys defensively just being out there today when he’s on the ball and what kind of potential with you and help or Al and help does him on the ball give you guys?
11:43 Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, he’s— I know from my experience, like, he’s like the most annoying guy to play against. Like, he’s strong, he get into you, he’s constantly, like, also putting pressure on the referees, so they don’t wanna maybe call everything. So it’s perfect to have a guy like this on my team, you know? And honestly he’s very smart. He’s very smart, very experienced, as I said. And I just feel like I’m a step slow. Like, I could still get there and block a couple more shots, alter a couple more shots, so that’s coming, but to have Draymond guarding probably the other team’s best player every night it’s a gift for us.
12:25 While you were out with the illness, Steve went on the radio, he said, your POTS diagnosis was misinformation. Then he walked that back. What was your perspective on that, watching it unfold from afar?
12:36 Yeah, it wasn’t ideal because he put something out again, so people could start talking about this, but again, I kind of, I told Steve, like, it’s okay. I know he didn’t mean anything. He didn’t want to create some hype around my health. He just said whatever he knew at the moment and yeah, it’s okay, honestly. Yeah, I mean, most important is that I’m feeling good and it’s giving me peace of mind, also, now and go forward and look better with each game.
13:06 I think Draymond’s ready. Cool.
13:08 Good? Thank you, guys.
00:00 (Porzingis is) trying to get used to the team just as he’s come on, be comfortable with the team. How have you done that?
00:07 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME GSW-OKC: Most importantly, communication, just trying to help him get in his spots that he likes to ball. I’ve watched a lot of film just trying to figure out where his comfort zone is. Does he like shooting right? Does he like shooting left? A bunch of different things. And then also just, I don’t know, be normal, like, gotta get to know people. And so I think that’s most important is, like, when you walk in every day, you speak, you see how someone’s doing all of those things, but just from a basketball perspective, just trying to help him out offensively and defensively, understand the things that we do and try to get him up to speed as fast as we can.
00:54 You guys at one point late were closing with you, Gui, Al and Kristaps. And even tonight it was just, like, a lot bigger lineups. How much are you enjoying that?
01:03 I love it. Switch up. Yeah, I love it. It’s great having more size and we’ll get more and more comfortable with it. It’s still fresh. Is that my second time playing with KP? You know? Yeah. Oh, this is the second game. Alright, so we’ll get better and better and figure out more and more, but I think when you have more size out there, you’re just able to cover up more. You’re able to cover up more mistakes and so, and then it closes gaps as well when you have more length. So I like it.
01:45 You did one or a couple, like, high-lows, including one late for a dunk. How useful could that type of action be to your offense?
01:52 Very useful, especially when Steph’s out there because he’s gonna take two people out of the play. And so when you can get those advantages, as we create those advantages, people will help more and more. And it’s either a quick swing or DHOs and so, trying to read all of those things, just finding, try to find ways to get us some easier buckets within the flow to where the offense don’t stop. And if team’s gonna switch on him, you gotta make them pay for that. And so I try to, usually they go help with my man and so, if I’m in the far corner, that’s a far pass and that’s tough for somebody to see. KP saw one today, but KP, 7’3 for most everybody else, it’s hard to see that pass. And so just trying to make myself available to make the next play.
02:47 Part of playing with more size allows you to guard the other team’s best perimeter guy. I know you’ve talked about, Kawhi, KD, now SGA. How much of an honor it is to take on that challenge, but how energizing is it to get that kind of assignment?
03:03 I think our coaching staff’s done figured out I have a lot more energy when I got that kind of assignment because, like I said, if Coach called on me to guard Kawhi, to guard KD, to guard Shai, that’s a badge of honor that is — I’m 36 years old, three games straight. That’s a badge of honor, you know? And so I get excited as hell because it’s a challenge. I’m disgusted I gave up that three at the end. Like, it was too much rhythm. I should have pressed up more. I’m beating myself up about that, but to draw those responsibilities at this point in my career, it’s amazing. And it energizes me a lot because, number one, my team need me to handle that matchup. A part of the reason we wanna go to that is so we don’t have to help so much and so then I have to take on that responsibility and make sure that we don’t have to help a ton. And then also I am very prideful person. And I just can’t go out there and, like, get murdered, you know? It’s gonna happen when you’re playing against great players like that, but at the same time, for me, like, I just can’t go lay down. Like, I can’t go out there and feel like it’s easy. And so it — like I said other night, it brings the best out of you when your guarding guys like that. I was telling them on the bench, like, man, the moment you think you can relax on Shai, he going downhill. And so just, it’s been fun guarding three of the best scorers we have in this league.
04:58 It’s a very different responsibility than what they’ve asked you to do a lot over the last couple years. Your 36, is it more or less physically taxing playing small ball 5, versus guarding SGA, KD, Kawhi?
05:12 It’s different. Small ball 5 is taxing, but it’s a different challenge, right? Like, small ball 5, you are absorbing all of the force of the offense at all times, right? Like, somebody come downhill, you gotta be the primary help guy. You gotta be the guy to set the paint. You gotta be the guy to set the box out, like, and so that’s kind of the challenge of the small ball 5. And then rebounding, if I’m at the 5, we’re a lot smaller elsewhere, you know? And so that’s more the challenge at the 5. The challenge with these guys is their teams aren’t looking for them every play, so you never get a break, like, and the moment you relax, you lose because now they — if you’re a step behind, now they have the advantage and you don’t make up advantages if you try to make up a disadvantage that Shai’s created for you. You gonna foul if you try to make up the disadvantage that KD creates. You just can’t — you dead. Like, he gonna raise up and there’s nothing you can do about it. Same for Kawhi. And so completely different challenges, all taxing in their own right, but that’s the game we play, you know? And I love the challenge, so different challenges, for sure, but nonetheless all of them are tough. It’s the NBA.
06:47 Draymond, since the deadline, you guys have all said how much you’ve respected Porzingis from afar. Obviously, the talent’s there. What’s it like in these — and I know it’s only been two games — but what’s it like seeing the glimpses of what it can be in real time here?
07:04 It’s great. He’s a mismatch. Just about anybody who guards him. And so to have that mismatch, it opens up the floor for so many other people and he hasn’t even found his jump shot yet, so we know what he’s capable of. Said second game tonight. He’ll get more and more comfortable. He’ll get his legs underneath him more and more. His shots will start going. And he just become more of a weapon for us. So the game is a lot easier when he’s on the floor, the finishes around the basket, the rim protection, the game gets a lot easier. So he’ll continue to round into form and it’ll be great for us.
07:57 Kristaps said that he has almost like a peace of mind, kind of. He feels like his health is under control. He knows what he’s going through. What have you seen from him, I guess, on the emotional side, the last few weeks?
08:11 He’s even keel, you know? He doesn’t — he’s not someone, like, even when he’s not out there or if he’s not feeling well, he doesn’t walk around like this. Like, he looks the same every day, so you can mistake — and I spoke about this the other day — we’re not the organization to walk around and look at guys like, man, this guy may be ready, or, why he not out there? We don’t do that and you’re never gonna feel any pressure as far as getting on the court. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we operate, but in saying that, he’s not a guy that walks around and wants you to see he’s not feeling well. Walk in with the same attitude every day, upbeat same spirit. And you can appreciate that. And, like I said, nobody’s gonna be looking at him, like, man, he must feel all right, he upbeat. That ain’t — we don’t do that shit here, so it’s, you always want guys — some guys, I’m not — but some guys even keeled because they set different tones in the locker room every day. Buddy Hield was like that, obviously, more funny, but always even keel, you know? And so, KPs been like that and no matter what’s going on with him, same upbeat spirit every day, and you can appreciate that.
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