Michael Porter Jr. is only 27 years old, but he’s already questioning how long he wants to continue playing basketball. The Brooklyn Nets forward, who has battled through multiple back surgeries and years of setbacks, admitted on media day that the grind of simply preparing to play has forced him to take things one year at a time.
“Because of the injuries and stuff, I don’t know how much longer I really want to play. Like, I want to play as long as I can, but people don’t understand the things I’ve got to go through on a daily basis, just to get out on the court and play with the best athletes in the world.”
“Yeah, after three back surgeries… You know, people say the same thing about Ben Simmons: ‘Oh, he doesn’t want to hoop. He’s mental.’ No, he had one or two of the injuries I had. I’ve had three of them. So I know, it’s not that he doesn’t want to hoop, it’s the fact that those injuries are serious injuries.”
“I decided: all I’m going to do is take it a year at a time. So I’m committed to basketball and putting my all into it for the next year. And then after that, I’m gonna reevaluate.”
For Porter, it has been an uneven road since entering the NBA. His rookie year was wiped out completely as he missed all 82 games while recovering from back surgery. In his second season, he began to flash the scoring ability that made him a top prospect but still missed 17 games.
The third year brought more frustration, as another back injury sidelined him for 72 games. He bounced back to play 62 games in his fourth season, then followed it up with 81 appearances in 2023-24 and 77 games last season.
The last two campaigns have been the most durable stretch of his career, but the constant management of pain and preparation weighs heavily on him.
Now with the Brooklyn Nets after being traded from Denver in a blockbuster deal, Porter finds himself in a new role. For the first time in his career, he is expected to be a primary option rather than a complementary scorer.
In Denver, he played alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, where his job was to space the floor and provide secondary offense. In Brooklyn, however, the ball will be in his hands much more often.
That makes this season both an opportunity and a test. Porter still has elite size at 6-foot-10, one of the purest jump shots in the league, and the ability to create mismatches all over the floor. But his comments about taking things year by year raise questions about his long-term future.
Porter is under contract and has the chance to establish himself as Brooklyn’s go-to scorer. If he can stay healthy and thrive in this role, it could extend his career and change the narrative around him. But his words make clear that he is aware of the toll his body has taken and that basketball isn’t something he takes for granted anymore.
For now, the focus is on this season. Porter Jr. wants to give everything he has left to the game, even if he isn’t sure how many more seasons he has left in him. His career has already been defined by perseverance, and in Brooklyn, he has one more chance to prove he can still be a star.
