Michael Porter Jr. — What the fuck happened?

Back in high school, this guy was a fucking monster. He was one of the best players in the country and people really thought he was gonna be a superstar in the NBA.

And you could see it. He was 6'10, could shoot from anywhere, was athletic, could handle the ball… he had everything.

Then his back fucked everything up.

He had surgery in college, dropped all the way to 14th in the draft, and Denver took a chance on him. He then missed his entire rookie season and kept having problems with his back. In 2021 he had another major surgery.

At that point it wasn't even about becoming a superstar anymore. It was just about staying healthy and actually having a career.

He also started working on the mental side of his pain, with a psychologist, and that became a big part of his recovery.

Eventually he had to realize that he probably wasn't gonna be the superstar everyone thought he would be.

So he changed his game.

And honestly, playing with Jokic was perfect for him. He didn't need to have the ball all the time. Just shoot, cut, attack the rim when there's space, rebound and play some defense.

And it worked. He became a really good player, won a championship in Denver and was one of the better scoring options next to Jokic.

But then he got traded to Brooklyn.

And now we finally get to see what MPJ looks like with way more responsibility.

The Nets are… well, they're the Nets 💀

So instead of being the third option on a championship team, he's basically being told: “Go score 25.”

And he's doing it.

Which is kinda crazy because the scoring ability was always there. His body just never really gave him the chance to show it consistently.

And then there's MPJ off the court…

Bro, someone needs to take the microphone away from this man.

😂

He's said some absolutely insane shit on podcasts over the years, from COVID conspiracy stuff to controversial takes about women, the WNBA and Andrew Tate. The Nets even told him to stay away from certain topics after some of his podcast appearances caused controversy.

And somehow he still keeps doing it.

Like bro, you're an NBA player, you won a championship, you're making millions…

JUST TALK ABOUT BASKETBALL.

But that's MPJ.

A dude who was supposed to become a superstar, got fucked by injuries, completely changed his game, won a championship with Jokic and is now finally showing that he can score 25 a night.

And honestly?

We'll probably never know how good he could've been if his back had just left him alone.