There is a chair in front of Michael Porter Jr.’s locker where the artwork rests. It was a gift from teammates Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray, a reminder that there is no paved road back to an NBA title. It reads simply: “I am going to do today what others won’t, so that tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”
Porter looked back at the picture Saturday night with comfort.
“I have to go hang that up at the house,” Porter said.
Porter, 25, had an awful week off the court. Wednesday, his brother Jontay, 24, a former Toronto Raptors reserve, received a lifetime ban from the NBA for allegedly betting on basketball and disclosing confidential information to bettors. Two days later, Coban, 22, a former University of Denver guard, received a six-year prison sentence for a drunken driving crash that killed a 42-year-old woman last year.
Porter missed Nuggets practice Friday to testify on Coban’s behalf, telling the judge how Coban provided a source of motivation growing up, always pushing him to work harder and get better.
“It’s not often a big brother looks up to his little brother,” Porter said.
It was against this backdrop that Porter entered the playoffs. The scrutiny only amplified because of the stakes and the opponent.
Would MPJ be able to find refuge on the court?
What unfurled suggests the playoffs will remain a continuation of the best stretch of his career. Porter delivered 19 points and eight rebounds in the Nuggets’ 114-103 Game 1 victory. He did not turn the ball over. His length and athleticism caused fits for the Lakers.
“I definitely tried to compartmentalize — some bad and sad stuff with a couple of my brothers,” Porter 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.”
Basketball offers an escape, a two-hour diversion from reality. Yet the specter of what has happened to Porter’s family is inescapable. No one would have been surprised had he been distracted. What Saturday revealed offers hope for this postseason. The caring and trust of teammates is real, genuine. Without it, there is movement but no progress.
“For his mindset to be where it is, I applaud him,” guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said. “We are going to keep him as a brother and keep him straight.”
Porter appreciates the environment his teammates have created, enveloping him with a cocoon of support. After all, he is not pretending to be immune from what has happened in his personal life.
“Each one of them texted me separately and just told me that they’ve got my back. That if I need anything they’ve got me,” Porter said. “We’re human, so we carry our emotions and the things that go on off of the court, onto the court. But I am mentally tough.”
As an X-factor, Porter creates options and questions, a refrain that has followed him since he was drafted. His talent is unique – a 6-foot-10 wing capable of living behind the arc and working the boards. When the Nuggets defense intensified in the third quarter – Denver outscored the Lakers 32-18 – it created opportunities in transition. During these times, Porter thrives, drifting to the corners for wide-open looks.
The Lakers have no answer for the Nuggets bigs, most notably the future three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. Coach Darvin Ham insisted, like he did a year ago, that there are adjustments they held back as part of the series chess match. Riiiiight. Is he saving them for a beach volleyball game in Cancun?
Last postseason Porter posted four games with eight points or less, struggling with an inconsistent shot. But he contributed in other ways. This season his growth appeared physically. He played in a career-high 81 games, averaging 16.7 points with seven rebounds. He found traction after the All-Star break, lifting his scoring to 18.3 points, while shooting 40.4% beyond the arc.
The Nuggets boast the NBA’s best starting five – they all scored in double figures in Game 1 – meaning the spotlight shifts among others not named Jokic and Murray. But MJP is no longer a role player. If the Nuggets are going to repeat – the first since the Warriors in 2018 – he must remain a steady contributor.
He logged 37 minutes in the opener with a plus-10 rating while he was on the floor. He averaged 31 minutes in the playoffs a year ago at plus-7.3. It is one game, the ultimate small sample size. But to make this type of impact after the week he experienced is encouraging for Porter and his teammates.
“I think that’s why basketball is such a beautiful game because you don’t think about anything except what is going on the floor. And after the stuff, it hits you,” Jokic said. “You think family first, of course. But we are some kind of family too. We hope that he’s going to find peace and be in a good spot mentally.”
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