On August 9, it was reported that new Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porziņģis had suffered a foot injury while preparing for the FIBA World Cup. Porziņģis has played for the Latvian National Team since 2017. However, after EuroBasket 2017, it would be five years before he appear for the team again. The injury news was first reported by Rupert Fabig of the Hamburger Abendblatt. While Fabig said the injury "wasn't too serious", he did stress that it could led the Celtics to pull Porziņģis from the World Cup.
Porziņģis has struggled immensely with injuries in recent years. The center only manged to play 50+ games in a season once between 2017 and 2022. However, the 2022-23 campaign was a career year for Porziņģis, who was a top-30 player in scoring and rebounding. That landed him on the Celtics in a three-team trade with the Wizards and Grizzlies. He is a massive upgrade at the position over the veteran Al Horford. However, there's now a debate as to whether Porziņģis is actually injured.
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Is Kristaps Porzingis Injured?
The Latvian Basketball Union has denied rumors that Porziņģis is injured. "There has been information that questions the participation of Kristaps Porzingis in the FIBA World Cup. LBS denies this information. Both the players' individual preparation plans and the team's overall training process are ongoing. The line-up for the match against the Dominican Republic will be announced on August 12," the federation tweeted on August 10. This, of course, completely contradicts the previously reporting
So what's the real story here? It's possible that Porziņģis did report an injury but it turned out to not be as serious as first thought. Or, there is every chance that the LBS doesn't want to reveal its roster issues this close to the start of the tournament. Regardless, it's likely that behind the scenes, the Celtics are attempting to the get the full story so they can make a fully informed decision. Latvia has been drawn into a group with the US, Lebanon and France. They begin their tournament in Jakarta against Lebanon on August 25.
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