Getty Kristaps Porzingis
During Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals, Kristaps Porzingis suffered a rare injury shortly after missing most of the Boston Celtics playoff run from a calf injury.
It turns out the injury will likely force Porzingis to miss the start of the 2024-25 season, according to Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations.
“Kristaps, after his surgery, we don’t know exactly when he’ll be back, but he’ll probably miss at least the very start of the season,” Stevens told The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo on the June 26 episode of Russillo’s podcast. “So that’ll be a great opportunity for us to do things (differently) and have to find different solutions.”
The team announced on June 25 that Porzingis would undergo surgery for a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, causing him to also miss the 2024 Olympics in July. The team said that type of injury “always requires surgical repair.”
#NEBHInjuryReport Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Surgery will be performed in the coming days and
further updates will be provided when available.
Porzingis, who will turn 29 in August, has two years left on his deal with the Celtics, who will pay him $60 million in that time, per Spotrac.
Kristaps Porzingis’ Injury Is Latest of Many
Porzingis’ injury is the latest of the many he’s suffered since coming to the NBA in 2015. The only time he has ever crossed the 70-game barrier was his rookie year with the New York Knicks. Since then, he has played as many as 65 games and played as few as 43. That also excludes him missing the entire 2018-19 season after he tore his ACL.
Porzingis played in seven total playoff games for the Celtics in 2024, tied for the most he’s ever played in a postseason. The difference between 2021 and 2024 is he played in only one series for the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. With the Celtics, they played all the way up to the NBA Finals, and two injuries severely limited his availability.
The injury held Porzingis out of Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals, but he played in Game 5. After the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks, Joe Mazzulla confirmed Porzingis overruled the Celtics medical staff to play in the series-clinching win on “Pardon My Take.”
Kristaps Porzingis overruled the Celtics medical team to play in Game 5 @PardonMyTake
The Celtics knew what they were getting into when they acquired Porzingis from the Washington Wizards. Even though he hardly played, he made it evident why the Celtics added him when they had the chance.
The Celtics won it all without him. However, they will need him healthy to help their chances of repeating.
Al Horford Will Likely Start in Place of Porzingis
With Porzingis expected to be unavailable for the start of the season, Al Horford will likely fill in for him until he returns. Horford has plenty of familiarity with the Celtics as their starting center dating back to 2016. He also did a fine job filling in for Porzingis for most of their 2024 title run. Even without their starting center for most of their run, Boston still went 16-3 during the 2024 NBA postseason.
However, Horford is 38, and pending any surprises, the Celtics are likely to rest him on back-to-backs, which they’ve been doing since 2022. Boston will likely try to add frontcourt depth to preserve Horford and Porzingis for when the 2025 NBA Playoffs start.