Michael Porter Jr. would’ve played 82 games if not for shoelace

Unthinkably, Michael Porter Jr. would be made of iron, if not for some faulty string.

On Feb. 9 in Sacramento, the Nuggets were embarking on a two-game weekend road trip. They were mercifully one week away from the All-Star break, a much-needed breather for a team that had played 102 games the previous season en route to a championship.

Porter, in particular, was pushing himself physically more than any season yet in his NBA career. He hadn’t missed a single game. An upcoming vacation in Mexico was going to work wonders for him, if he could just … make it … to the break.

Then, a shoe debacle.

“The shoes that I had packed — the laces were torn, and I just didn’t feel safe playing in them,” Porter said last Sunday. “I brought the wrong shoes, really.”

So MPJ sat that night in Sacramento, a 135-106 blowout loss that began a three-game skid going into All-Star weekend. He didn’t miss another contest. In fact, he returned from Mexico with a mild sunburn and a blazing 3-point stroke. He shot 50.9% from the field, 40.4% beyond the arc and 90.7% from the foul line in Denver’s last 27 games of the regular season, a 21-6 stretch for the team.

“The one game I missed was because I didn’t have the right shoes,” Porter said, smiling.

Lacing them up (safely) for 81 of 82 isn’t too shabby, especially given Porter’s extensive injury history. He’s had three back surgeries since the Nuggets drafted him 14th overall in 2018, missing 70 or more games in multiple seasons. His previous career high in games played was last season, when he appeared in 62, plus all 20 playoff contests. In Denver’s title defense, his regular season alone almost equalled the combined total from 2022-23.

“After everything I’ve been through,” he said, “that probably means the most to me out of everything.”

Porter’s evolution into a pillar of durability represents his team’s sturdiness. The Nuggets are entering their first-round series against the Lakers with a starting lineup that played 958 minutes together in the regular season. No other five-man lineup in the league played 800 minutes. The last time a five-man unit played more than 958 minutes together in any regular season was 2017-18, when the Jimmy Butler-featured Timberwolves used a lineup that surpassed 1,100 minutes.

In addition to being consistently available, this Nuggets starting five was nearly unstoppable. Its net rating for the season was 13.6.

Porter has been critical, stepping up and embracing his role as a second scoring option whenever Jamal Murray has been out due to various leg injuries (the only persistent health problem Denver’s faced all season).

“I told Michael he deserves so much credit,” coach Michael Malone said. “The reason he dropped to us on draft night was because there were concerns about his health and his back. For him to get to this point where he’s playing 81 of 82 games and playing at a high level is just incredible.”