Back at home in Missouri with the NBA on hiatus, Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr. and his father knew to grow his game to finish the season strong, they had to deconstruct it first.
So they pulled a page from an old playbook.
“Me and my dad, we were in the gym a lot of days,” said Porter in an interview with Nuggets 360. “We went back to the basics, what got me to where I’m at. A lot of form shooting. A lot of ball handling. Simple drills. All the fundamentals and stuff I would do as a kid to get better and better.”
Because you can never be too skilled.
“It’s like, you need to work out 90 percent of what you’re already good at, and 10 percent of new stuff that you’re trying to add,” Porter said. “So, for me — and Michael Jordan talks about it in his documentary — if you can master the basics that’s when all of that other crazy stuff can come to life... So that’s what my dad’s philosophy was all growing up, and that’s kind of what we go back to. Making sure my form is locked in, making sure my ball-handling is tight. Making sure I’m not fading on my jump shot too much. And then from there you kind of progress.”
From there, Porter Jr. returned to the Nuggets with a renewed sense of belonging, and a chip on his shoulder to prove it on the court. Injuries to Will Barton and Gary Harris opened up playing time on the wing. Porter Jr. stepped in with confidence.
His first game in the NBA restart? Nineteen points, seven rebounds and 61 percent shooting in a scrimmage against Orlando.
Turns out, that was just an appetizer.
When the seeding games began, Porter Jr. strung together consecutive games of 37 points and 12 rebounds against Oklahoma City; 30 points and 15 rebounds against San Antonio; and 27 points and 12 rebounds against Portland. He was the Nuggets leading scorer (22.0) and rebounder (8.6) in the seeding games, shot 55.1 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from the 3-point line.
“Michael’s a different cat,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He goes out there, and he just wants to play. The guy is a gym rat.”
The NBA took notice.
When awards for the seeding games were handed out, Porter Jr. was named Second-Team All-Seeding Games. On that team with him were big-time stars — Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, L.A. Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, Dallas’ Kristaps Porzingis and Brooklyn’s Caris LeVert.
“I really just wanted to come in here and make my mark,” Porter Jr. said. “I didn’t know how much of a jump it was going to be, but none of it is really unexpected for me.”
That’s because Porter Jr. has always known his potential. And yet he says he’s just scratching the surface of what’s ultimately to come.
“I showed a few glimpses of what I’m capable of, but I’ve still got a lot of growth to do,” he said. “There are a lot of areas I can get better at. So that’s what I’m looking at. I expected to do everything I’m doing with time and with the minutes. But I realize that I still have a lot of growth, and being the starting small forward right now going into these playoffs, I’m still trying to gel with those guys.
“And it’s crazy because I feel that there’s so much more in me. But it is good to see that people are starting to notice what I’m doing a little bit. But, for me, this is only the beginning. I’m not even close to being satisfied.”
Now, Porter Jr. is poised to begin his first journey in the NBA playoffs when the Nuggets start their first-round series against Utah on Monday morning.
“I’m excited,” Porter Jr. said. “Those last few seeding games didn’t really matter. Guys were getting kind of weary a little bit just because it wasn’t for anything. But now it is. So you’re going to get to see guys go out there and play their hardest. The intensity is going to go up. Every possession matters, every game matters. So, I’m really excited to see how our team comes out. And see other teams’ best... I’m really, really, excited.”