Michael Porter Jr.

BIOGRAPHY

Michael Lamar Porter Jr. was born on June 29, 1998, at Colombia, Missouri. He is a Small Forward in the NBA.

Porter grew up as a vegetarian, and in 2018 changed his diet to raw vegan. In addition to younger brother Jontay, he has two older sisters named Bri and Cierra, both of whom retired from playing sports due to multiple injuries involving their legs. However, Cierra Porter is no longer medically-retired and is in her senior year at the University of Missouri.

Porter attended Father Tolton Regional Catholic High School in Columbia, Missouri, before transferring to Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, Washington, for his senior year. His father, Michael Porter Sr., was hired by the University of Washington to be an assistant coach; former NBA star Brandon Roy was the coach of Nathan Hale's basketball team. In his senior season, he would average a massive 36.2 points and 13.6 rebounds as he helped the high school earn a perfect 29–0 record and win the Washington Class 3A State Championship. Porter was rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as one of the top overall recruits in his class by Rivals.com and ESPN.

He participated in the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit, leading Team USA to a 98–87 victory over the World Select Team with 19 points in 23 minutes of play.

In June 2018, Porter was selected with the 14th overall pick by the Denver Nuggets, and on July 3rd, Porter signed a multi-year contract with the Nuggets.

On September 27, 2021, Porter and the Denver Nuggets agreed to a 5-year, $172 million rookie extension that will become $207 million if Porter is selected to an All-NBA Team. On November 29, 2021, having appeared in only 9 games, Porter's agent Mark Bartelstein announced Porter would miss the remainder of the 2021–22 NBA season as he would be undergoing a third back surgery.

In Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Porter Jr. put up 16 points and 13 rebounds in a 94–89 win over the Miami Heat to help the Nuggets win their first NBA championship in franchise history.