Michael Porter Jr. used to be regarded as the top overall prospect for the upcoming 2018 NBA Draft, but a back injury he suffered during his days with the Missouri Tigers has apparently cost him that lofty estimation. It didn’t help his stock that he reportedly canceled a workout last week due to a sore hip.
Still, Porter is expected to go high in this Thursday’s draft in Brooklyn despite concerns about his health, which he dismissed as mere exaggerations during a recent appearance on The Will Cain Show on ESPN Radio.
Potential top 5 #NBADraft pick Michael Porter Jr. (@MPJr) told @willcain the reports that he couldn't get out of bed last week because of a hip injury were exaggerated pic.twitter.com/ac0yTvvSDi
— The Will Cain Show (@WillCainShow) June 18, 2018
Porter said Monday that reports about his injury status last week, particularly his hip, “got exaggerated a lot.”
“It was just a little sore, so I told [my agent] my hip was kind of sore and he just wanted to shut it down for a couple of days,” Porter said. “And then people took that and kind of ran with it, saying, you know, my hip was injured, I couldn't get out of bed. … None of that was really true. I was just sore and I wanted to take a couple of days off. So that's all that was.”
Porter is, of course, doing himself a favor by saying he’s perfectly healthy. With draft night a few days away, the last thing Michael Porter Jr. and his camp want right now is the media focusing on his health than his potential.
Porter is practically jumping straight out of high school. Technically, he played college, but he only did so for only three games – 53 minutes in total. He injured his back in his college debut for the Tigers after spending just two minutes on the floor. He returned months later to play in the SEC Tournament and in the NCAA National Tournament before declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft.
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