Michael Porter: “I‘d play basketball for free as long as I can eat”

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter ventures into a different season in the NBA. The 26-year-old from the Colorado-based franchise, who last year lost the championship crown to the Celtics, has grown as a professional after the doubts he harbored when he arrived in the big league (he was aiming for number one and was Mo.14 in his generation due to an ongoing back issue).

Michael Porter’s family issues

But he doesn’t shy away from the negativity that surrounds him. During the last few months he has been in the news on several occasions for controversies involving his brothers: his younger brother Jontay was expelled from the league for betting, Jevon was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and Coban pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter...

“Bad things have happened to my brothers. But I have 15 or 16 brothers here with me”, Michael told the media earlier this year, in reference to his teammates, who rallied round to support him in the face of such tremendous events. His progress out on the court has been sensational - in sharp contrast to a rather complex situation off it.

In addition to the fact that he will now gain more prominence, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s departure will surely open up more options in the forward position (‘3′-’4′) in which he was fully established. His performances never failed to surprise.

In his second season, he showed why he was among the most decisive college players, being third in the fight for the Most Improved Player award.

The last two seasons, the one with the Ring and the one in which they were stripped of it, have marked a thick line on which to stabilize: 17 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists, with a magnificent 40% in three-point shots, in 30.5 minutes on average with 153 sample games. The game in which Denver won the NBA for the first time he scored 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Taking advantage of the tranquility that comes from talking to a former teammate like Austin Rivers who knows the NBA and its environment inside out, Porter opened up about his aspirations, delivering statements that have given people something to talk about. In the Off Guard podcast, he told Rivers what motivates him to be a top-level sportsman.

Ambition before money or acclaim

“Before my injuries I would have been clear about playing basketball. Now it’s a little different, sometimes I feel like it’s a job, but I still really like basketball. I would have played this sport for free as long as I could keep eating. I love it. Money was never my goal, it was to go as far as I can being the best I can.

“So honestly, the salary sometimes makes it difficult for me, the enjoyment of the game and all that, because having a maximum contract comes a lot of expectations about consistency: you’re supposed to go to the All-Star, you have to do this or that, whatever they want to say about you”, he explained, describing his way of approaching games.

Porter is known for expressing himself loud and clear - and also for the occasional controversy. Adam Silver had to come out to correct some of his statements about the coronavirus in 2021, nothing to do with when he exposed the commissioner’s phone number and email on social media during one of the rookie initiation days.

With the Nuggets, sportingly speaking, he has found a space in which to display his numerous qualities as a player, buried by his physical problems as soon as he arrived in the NBA and which are gradually flourishing enough to sign a contract in 2022 for the maximum allowed: 179x5.