Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. has made several eyebrow-raising comments during his offseason media tour. Most recently, he said he isn't sure how long he wants to continue playing basketball during a conversation about his injury history. Porter Jr. battled debilitating back injuries early in his career before a miraculous recovery.
The Nets trade acquisition, who has missed just six regular-season games over the last two seasons, clarified his retirement comments on Wednesday.
“Basketball is my passion. I want to play as long I can. I think that it’s just easier in my head to be like, man, give it my all, everything I have this year, and then when the year is over, see where I’m at mentally and reevaluate,” Porter Jr. said. “But in the back of my mind, obviously, I wanna play as long as my body allows me to. I’ve been through a lot of injuries, but the last few years I’ve been, like you said, pretty much an iron man.
“I think I played the most games on Denver. Besides that freak shoulder injury during the playoffs, I was pretty comfortable throughout the whole 82-game season and the playoffs. So if that continues, I wanna obviously keep playing as long as I can.”
Asked Michael Porter Jr. about his recent comments saying he doesn't know how much longer he wants to continue playing basketball:
“Basketball is my passion. I want to play as long as I can. I think that it’s just easier in my head to be like, man, give it my all, everything I… pic.twitter.com/7Rf8zTcaiy
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) October 1, 2025
Porter Jr. underwent three back surgeries from 2018 to 2021. He missed his entire rookie season and played only nine games during the 2021-22 campaign. However, the 27-year-old was an ironman for the Denver Nuggets over the last two seasons.
Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. opens up on miraculous injury recovery
Porter Jr. attributed much of his recent injury success to his focus on maintaining a positive mental state.
“A lot of it is a lot of hard work on my body. The other part is a lot of hard work when it comes to my mind and my emotional state, my mental state, my spiritual state,” he said. “Nicole Sacks is the name of a woman who helped me a lot to overcome some of my back problems. And I didn't realize how much of that actually stemmed from the mental side of things and stress and all that. So once I kind of put all those pieces together, and I didn't just pay attention to the physical side of things, I was able to have a very well-rounded approach to my rehab. And since then, I haven't had any problems with my back. It's been about two-and-a-half, three years since I kind of figured that out.”
The seven-year NBA veteran expanded on how his work with Sacks saved his career.
“Nicole is an expert on the mind-body connection. She looks at healing chronic pain through the lens of the mind-body connection and kind of your emotions. The muscles are tightening because of repressed emotions and all those things, that whole world, which was new to me,” Porter Jr. said. “But I needed to try something new after the third surgery. I came across her stuff, and since then, it’s been a game-changer. I think that the future of treating chronic pain and healing will be people taking a more well-rounded approach with the mind-body connection as a whole. It's been working for me. And you know I've been through it all.
After spending his Nuggets career in Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic's shadows, Porter Jr. has voiced his excitement over an expanded role with the Nets. The 6-foot-10 sharpshooter is Brooklyn's highest-paid player, making $79 million over the next two seasons.
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez coached Porter Jr. as an assistant with the Nuggets from 2018 to 2022. He said his highest-paid player is embracing a new opportunity and has plenty of basketball ahead of him.
“Michael is a grown man now. When I was with him, he was a young kid… He was a great player when he was younger, and now, I can see how mature he is,” Fernandez said. “You can tell that he's played on a winning team for many years, and it's great to have his experience here. He can share a lot of his thoughts with his teammates, and I think he's embracing his new position.”
“People underestimate how mentally tough Mike and all the players who went through serious injuries are. You never know what it is until you go through it. What he's accomplished, considering everything he had to go through, is very impressive, and I give him a lot of credit. The fact that he's enjoying it, he's coming here every day and working, he's got a lot of basketball left to play.”
