Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. recently touched on the immense daily pressures NBA players face. While doing so, he echoed NBA legend Dennis Rodman’s iconic quote about the grueling nature of their job.
Entering his freshman season at Missouri (2017-18), Porter was viewed as a potential No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft. However, his college career was derailed due to a back injury that limited him to three games. After undergoing surgery, Porter fell to No. 14 in the 2018 draft, marking a high-risk, high-reward selection for Denver.
Porter’s back injury ultimately cost him his entire rookie season (2018-19). However, he has since overcome injury concerns to establish himself as one of the NBA’s top 3-point shooters. He also played a pivotal role as a No. 3 scoring option during the Nuggets’ 2023 NBA championship run.
Porter’s resurgence garnered him a five-year, $172.6 million maximum rookie scale contract extension in 2021. Thus, he is locked under a lucrative contract with one of the league’s premier teams until the end of the 2026-27 season.
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Nevertheless, according to Porter, the pressure to live up to his deal has somewhat hindered his passion for basketball.
“I would have played this game for free as long as I could eat. I loved it,” Porter said on “Off Guard with Austin Rivers” on Wednesday.
“… The money sometimes makes it a little bit harder to enjoy the game because with a max contract comes a lot of expectations on consistency. ‘Oh, you’re supposed to be an All-Star, you’re supposed to be this, that,'” he continued.
Michael Porter Jr.’s comments about the state of the modern-day NBA are eerily similar to Dennis Rodman’s remarks from his late 1990s stint with Chicago. As depicted in the 2020 docuseries “The Last Dance,” Rodman, who openly struggled with mental health issues, expressed a similar sentiment about dealing with outside noise.
“It’s not just basketball that we have to deal with on this team. It’s the pressure of the bulls**t,” Rodman said. “I’ll play the game for free, but you get paid for the bulls**t after. Basketball is simple, it’s a simple game, but when you leave this confined zone, it’s hard.”
While Rodman was regularly criticized for his unpredictable behavior throughout his Hall of Fame career, he played during the pre-social media era. So, Porter has instant access to far more criticism when he fails to meet expectations.
However, it seemingly hasn’t impacted his production, as Porter is coming off his second consecutive season as Denver’s third-leading scorer.
Michael Porter Jr. on memes about his selfishness on offense
During his appearance on “Off Guard with Austin Rivers,” Michael Porter Jr. seemingly had fun discussing one of the most common fan criticisms he faces.
Porter, known primarily for his shooting ability, has never averaged at least 2.0 assists per game in a single season. Thus, fans typically rag on him for not passing enough.
However, the Nuggets forward jokingly embraced some of his most comical fan-given nicknames.
“There’s a few. There’s Michael ‘The Possession Stops Here’ [Porter], there’s Michael ‘Never Swing The Rock’ [Porter],” Porter said.
Porter later quipped that he may attempt to increase his assist average next season to appease fans.
“I might try to increase my assists from 1.5 to like 2.0 [per game] this year,” Porter said.
However, time will tell whether Porter follows through on his plan to pass more.
