Denver Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr. Comments On Family's Recent Troubles Off The Court

PublishedApril 21, 2024 8:20 PM EDT|UpdatedApril 21, 2024 8:20 PM EDT

Michael Porter, Jr. put on a strong performance for the Denver Nuggets on Saturday amid some off-the-court, family-related issues.

After the Nuggets' win over the Lakers, MPJ addressed the troubling headlines focused on brothers Jontay and Coban Porter.

Porter credited his teammates for helping him stay tenacious during troubling times involving his brothers. The Nuggets forward credited his teammates' support for the sizzling Game 1 performance.

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter, Jr. (Credit: Getty Images)

READ: Michael Porter Jr.'s Two Brothers Deal With 6-Year Prison Sentence, Lifetime Ban As NBA Playoffs Start

"Definitely tried to compartmentalize, some bad and sad stuff happened to a couple of my brothers," MPJ said.

"But I got, you know, 15, 16 more brothers in here, so I knew I had to be here for them and come in here and do my job and try to prepare to do it at a high level."

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On Wednesday, Michael's brother and former Raptors player Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban by the NBA after he was found placing illegal bets on his former team.

Jontay Porter C of Toronto Raptors fights for a rebound with Lindy Waters III R of Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2023-2024 NBA regular season game between Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder in Toronto, Canada, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Days after Jontay's lifetime ban, brother Coban Porter was sentenced to six years in jail for killing a motorist while driving drunk in 2023.

Coban Porter's crash resulted in the death of the other motorist and serious injuries to the passenger in the other vehicle.

MPJ missed practice Friday to testify for his brother Coban, The Denver Post reported.

With a loaded week of grim news, Michael Porter, Jr. decided to show up to work on Saturday — elevating the Nuggets to a 1-0 series lead by scoring 19 points and recording eight rebounds.

READ: Nuggets Star Nikola Jokic Wears Gru-vy 'Despicable Me' Outfit Before Demolishing Lakers

The Nuggets' depth proved too much for Los Angeles to handle. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murry combined for 54 points while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon combined to add 24 more points from the starters.

Compound that production with Porter's 19 points and you'll realize that the Nuggets are just as formidable as last season's championship group. The 25-year-old averaged 16.7 points for Denver this season.

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic shared his thoughts on Porter's toughness to start the postseason.

"It's a hard thing to do, but I think when you're on the court, you don't think about it," Nuggets star Nikola Jokic said of Porter after the game. That's why basketball is such a beautiful thing, that you don't think about nothing except what's going on on the floor.

"Before and after of course the stuff hits you, but we all reached out to him. It's a thing that of course family is the first thing, but we are some kind of family too.

"Hopefully he's going to find peace and be in a good spot mentally."