Missouri forward Michael Porter Jr. is set to undergo back surgery on Tuesday and will likely miss the remainder of the college season, the program announced today (via Twitter). According to the announcement from the school, the procedure – a microdiscectomy of the L3-L4 spinal discs – has a projected recovery time of three or four months.
Porter suffered the injury just two minutes into Mizzou’s season opener on November 10, and the team had been tight-lipped about the nature and severity of the ailment since then, simply calling it a leg injury. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman had reported on Monday (via Twitter) that Porter was meeting with a specialist, so the decision to undergo surgery may have been finalized at that point.
Porter, a freshman, is considered one of the top prospects for the 2018 NBA draft, with Jonathan Givony of ESPN recently ranking him second in the class, behind only Luka Doncic. While the school says (via Twitter) the 6’10” forward is expected to make a full recovery, back problems have a tendency to pop up again down the road — NBA teams will certainly be keeping a close eye on Porter’s rehabilitation process.
It remains to be seen how the injury will impact the freshman’s draft stock, with Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, and DeAndre Ayton among the other players who had been battling Porter for the No. 1 spot. For now though, the focus is on the youngster’s well-being, as Mizzou coach Cuonzo Martin said in a statement.
“Our top priority as a program is the well-being of our student-athletes, so Michael beginning this process to be 100% healthy is important to all of us,” Martin said. “Our focus has been on Michael’s well-being, just like every other player in our locker room.”
Some people will use this as an opportunity to say that high school kids should be able to go straight to the draft because of injury risk. I disagree. I think this shows exactly why these kids should be getting college degrees. All it takes is two minutes for one injury and an athletic career is over or at least severely compromised. All the more reason to have as many options as possible.
While I agree that these kids should have as many options as possible, I also think that an injury like this is a much easier pill to swallow when you are a multi-millionaire.
Also easier to take your time and properly rehab if you have money. Which is good for health long term if they’re not pushing their bodies too hard to make money. Also if you’re taking a high school player in the draft, as a NBA team you should already weigh the risk of injury and the player not developing an NBA body.
But the problem is that very few of the high schoolers will become multi-millionaires. They might become them ON PAPER, but after you factor in the taxes, agents, business managers, hangers-on, and everything else from being under-educated, they aren’t multi-millionaires for long. It’s not a problem for the LeBrons, Kobes, and Garnetts of the world, but what about guys like Ndudi Ebi or Korleone Young? Don’t you think college may have helped them far more than going to college would have hurt LeBron or Kobe?
I get what you are saying, I really do. I just think that it’s a roll of the dice that a high school kid can’t afford to take.
If someone is going to hand you guaranteed money, how do you not take it??
I agree with you on getting the scholarship. At the same time though, I believe these kids should be compensated beyond education. Most schools can afford to pay out with the millions upon millions that they are making off of the talent of these kids. On top of that the NBA can also contribute, being that some of those kids are looking to go pro.
They can easily get a degree with the money they make from their first rookie contract. Everyone acts like you can’t go to college after playing pro sports.
The rumor is he will stay in school now. Even without the injury he was said to want to stay two years. Of course money can change his mind but I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed at Mizzou next season
A guaranteed NBA contract will change his mind. Look st the medical risk he took this season…
Do you really think he won’t get drafted in 2019 if he stays one more year? That guaranteed contract will still be there if he stays one more year.
It’s a very bad rumor.