An NBA champion who was traded this offseason made a sly dig at his former team.
Michael Porter Jr. was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, after an injury-plagued year saw him unable to perform in the playoffs.
Porter Jr. was drafted by the Nuggets in 2018 and won the NBA championship with the team in 2023. He admitted he was shocked by the trade, but wished his former team nothing but the best. But Porter Jr. couldn’t resist taking a jab at the Nuggets once he got to New York.
Michael Porter Jr. criticises Denver Nuggets’ practice facilities
After he was traded, Porter Jr. said he “plateaued” in Denver and needed to leave in order to grow as a player.
Playing alongside Nikola Jokić, a playmaking center and all-time NBA great, should mean improvement for any player, but perhaps he was partially referring to their practice facilities.
On a tour of the Brooklyn Nets facilities, he said, “I’m just glad y’all got two courts man! Because over there we had the one court.”
The video cuts from there, so we are unable to see what Porter Jr. went on to say. But it was clearly a common complaint about the Nuggets’ facilities.
“That’s what Conner was telling me”, was the response from the person giving Porter Jr. the tour, probably referring to the Nets’ Assistant Coach Conner Griffin, who was Assistant Video Coordinator of the Denver Nuggets in 2024.
The fact that the 2023 NBA champions practice on a single court, and therefore only two nets, is uncommon, especially for a contending team. It’s a valid complaint from Porter Jr.
Michael Porter Jr. is essential to the Brooklyn Nets’ success
The Brooklyn Nets made history in the NBA Draft, selecting five players in the first round. Not only that, four of those players are ball-dominant playmaking guards. The Nets now enter the season with an extremely young team full of rookies, which emphasises the importance of Porter Jr.
He is one of the only high-ceiling players currently on the Nets, and one of their veterans as he enters his seventh NBA season. He said he wants to grow as a player in Brooklyn, but he needs to think beyond himself.
On a team with an abundance of youthful inexperience, Porter Jr. needs to help guide the young rookies through their first NBA season. And since he is not a ball dominant player, his playstyle is going to create much-needed balance as the rookies fight for the ball.