Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. is battling through adversity off the court as the team looks to win their second consecutive NBA championship.
Porter's younger brother, Coban, was sentenced to six years in prison for a drunk-driving accident that killed a woman in January of 2023. The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. The crash killed 42-year-old Kathy Rothman and seriously injured 47-year-old passenger Jason Branch. Prosecutors said Porter was speeding at the time of the crash and had a blood alcohol level of .19, more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to The Denver Post.
This comes just one week after Porter’s other brother, Jontay, was banned from the NBA for violating the league’s gambling rules. He disclosed information to sports bettors and also bet on NBA games.
After the Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their first-round series, Porter addressed the recent incidents involving his brothers.
"Definitely tried to compartmentalize," Porter said. "Some bad and sad stuff happened to a couple of my brothers. 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."
Porter was absent from Denver’s practice Friday to testify on Coban’s behalf at his hearing. Despite this, he arrived on Saturday ready to play his part for the Nuggets, finishing with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.
Porter spoke about how his teammates have supported him throughout this tough stretch.
“Each one of [my teammates] texted me separately, told me they’ve got my back — if I need anything, they got me," Porter said. "A lot of people have been reaching out. Friends. Family. To have these guys understand why I missed practice yesterday and just have my back has been big for me.
"We're humans so we carry our emotions and the things that go on off the court onto the court. But I'm mentally tough; I've been through a lot throughout my whole career. It's another one of those things that I had to try to play through."
Michael Porter Jr.: "I definitely tried to compartmentalize -- some bad and sad stuff happening with a couple of my brothers. But I've got, you know 15, 16 more brothers in here. I knew I had to be here for them.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2024
(via @TroyRenck)pic.twitter.com/c6a1p1ta5c
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokić said he hopes that basketball can be an escape for his teammate.
"It's a hard thing to do, but I think when you're on the court, you don't think about it," Jokić said. "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."
The Nuggets return to action on Monday night for Game 2 against the Lakers.
