In a piece chronicling the first NBA game for Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., Nick Kosmider of The Athletic explains how Porter’s debut ended up being a long time coming after the 21-year-old had to rehab through two back surgeries and miss his entire first season as a professional.
In the team hotel the night before Porter’s debut, Tim Connelly, Denver’s president of basketball operations, encouraged Porter to let each frame of his debut experience sink in, notwithstanding the fact that it was just a preseason game.
“I told him, ‘You should really pat yourself on the back,'” Connelly said. “It’s not easy to do what he’s done. He’s been a guy that, forever, the assumption was that he was going to play in the NBA because he was so talented, but the road has been a little more convoluted and challenging, so I said, ‘Appreciate the moment. You’re officially in the NBA. It wasn’t how you thought it would be three or four years ago, but it’s still special.'”
Teammate Jarred Vanderbilt, who is close with Porter and helped him throughout the rehab process and beforehand, had some good advice for his friend.
“I know how tough it was for him to sit out, like it was for me, but he sat out the whole year,” Vanderbilt said. “It was a lot tougher for him, so it’s just great to see him playing again. I told him, ‘Don’t put any pressure on yourself. Just be happy to be out there.’ That’s how I was. I was just happy to be out there. I know how it feels to be not able to play. To come back and feel all antsy like you have to make the right play and everything, I felt like I was doing that and thinking too much, so I just told him to let the game come. Everything will fall into place.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves guard Josh Okogie, who is entering his second season in the NBA, was able to improve his game this summer by playing in the FIBA World Cup as a member of Team Nigeria, writes Chris Hine of the Star Tribune. Specifically, Okogie believes he has gotten better mentally. “My experience was great playing overseas. One reason being, it forced me to think the game.”
- As Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune notes, we may see some new tricks from Jazz newcomer, veteran forward Jeff Green, as his ever-expanding skill set could prove crucial for the team this coming season.
- The Thunder rolled out a starting lineup that included Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder in their latest preseason game, perhaps signaling the team’s plan to use multiple point guard rotations throughout this season. Tim MacMahon of ESPN has the story.
“I told him, ‘You should really pat yourself on the back,’”
Unfortunately, when he tried to do just that, the brittle Porter injured his back yet again and will miss the next two seasons. And yet because he played well in a high school All Star Game 3 years ago, Denver will still offer him a max extension.
Does it make you feel good trolling young kids, that the sort of man you were raised to be? SMH!!!
I’m sure you’ve never made such comments.
Micheal Porter Jr is a solid rookie.
It might be early to say but going into college Micheal Porter probably had more of a reputation that Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. After a lot of time out I don’t expect him to be amazing or average 20 points per game but I have a suspicion he will he really good. A lot of high draft picks have missed there first year and been really good players like Embid, Griffin and Simmons.
In his teams win over the Clippers he played 12 minutes and got 12 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal. In his teams win over the trail blazers he played 16 minutes and had 9 points and 3 rebounds but that was his first game back in almost 2 years. In those two games he’s averaged a +/- of 10.5 and shot 71% FG.
Obviously that won’t last but it shows to me in limited minutes he’s been able to bounce back to a really good level against really good opponents. I think his confidence will be sky high and if he can keep fit he might be a dark horse for rookie of the year. Zion has looked amazing but in regular season games I’m not sure the Pelicans have what it takes to win games.
Porter seems lost on defense, and he seems like a ball stopper, so hopefully, those issues can be resolved
Mate he’s played about 30 mins of ball in preseason games after being injured for two years. Those things will go after he gets more time and gets that thyme back
OKC is in an impossible situation right now. They need to feature Chris Paul to make him look attractive so they can trade him, but the more he plays the more likely he is to get hurt again. They’re probably stuck with his albatross around their necks.