Michael Porter Jr. opens up on playing through ‘bad and sad stuff’ involving brothers

The Denver Nuggets opened up their postseason on Saturday night with a 114-103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Following the win, Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. talked about balancing basketball with serious matters going on with his family.

One of Porter’s younger brothers, Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors, received a lifetime ban from the NBA for gambling, becoming the first active NBA player to receive a lifetime ban from the league in 70 years. Days after that happened, another one of Porter’s brothers, Coban Porter, received a six-year prison sentence for a January 2023 car crash in Colorado that killed a woman. Porter (Coban) was driving drunk.

But while Porter (Michael) clearly had his mind on other things leading into the postseason, his Game 1 performance was strong. He finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds. Following the game, he was asked about compartmentalizing everything.

“I definitely tried to compartmentalize — some bad and sad stuff happening with a couple of my brothers,” Porter Jr. said. “But I’ve got, you know 15, 16 more brothers in here. I knew I had to be here for them, and come in and do my job and prepare to do it at a high level.”

Michael Porter Jr.: “I definitely tried to compartmentalize — some bad and sad stuff happening with a couple of my brothers. But I’ve got, you know 15, 16 more brothers in here. I knew I had to be here for them.

(via @TroyRenck)pic.twitter.com/c6a1p1ta5c

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2024

Porter also spoke of how his Nuggets teammates have helped him.

“Each one of them texted me separately, told me they’ve got my back — if I need anything, they got me. A lot of people have been reaching out. Friends. Family. To have these guys understand why I missed practice yesterday and just have my back has been big for me.”

[Photo Credit: Troy Renck on Twitter/X]