Denver Nuggets Owner Josh Kroenke Discusses Why He Took a Chance Drafting MPJ After Back Surgeries
00:00:00.000 | I want to talk a little bit about your guys' thought process with me coming into the league.
00:00:06.160 | Obviously you were both from Columbia so you had known about me and things like that, but
00:00:10.340 | I had been through a lot.
00:00:12.840 | The Clippers doctor spread the report throughout the league that they didn't know, they weren't
00:00:17.440 | sure if I'd be able to play basketball considering my injuries, and a lot of teams were scared
00:00:22.520 | away by that.
00:00:23.520 | I remember the first time I got on the phone with the Nuggets was with Tim Conley on the
00:00:27.160 | day of the draft because my agent wanted to kind of create a floor, like okay, if he drops
00:00:32.000 | it here, this team will take him.
00:00:34.360 | So I had no idea going into the draft what was going to happen.
00:00:36.840 | What were those conversations like behind doors about me?
00:00:42.960 | My Michael Porter Jr. story first starts, I think you were in 7th or 8th grade, a friend
00:00:49.760 | of mine sent me this link of some unknown skinny kid going up for a dunk.
00:00:57.480 | And I was like wow, this kid's supposedly the best 8th grader in the country.
00:01:01.680 | And I was like wow, I've never seen an 8th grader look at the rim almost like you were.
00:01:07.200 | And then I was like, wait a minute, that's Jeff City's gym, that's Jefferson City.
00:01:13.880 | I know that gym, we're my high school rivals.
00:01:17.200 | And so I did a quick search to try to find out more of what I was watching and I was
00:01:23.000 | quickly told that Central Missouri had one of the best players in the country.
00:01:29.200 | Because I was like, that section of the country doesn't produce talent like you.
00:01:34.840 | And so I was very aware of who you were from an early age and I followed your career because
00:01:39.480 | I was kind of proud that we had someone of your caliber coming out of that section of
00:01:44.640 | the state.
00:01:47.720 | So I followed your career and then I was going to watch your first game at Mizzou and then
00:01:54.480 | I heard about what had happened.
00:01:57.680 | And I think you were going through warm-ups, right?
00:01:59.480 | There was a couple days leading up to it where you had some tightness, right?
00:02:02.240 | Yeah, the injury.
00:02:03.240 | Yeah, it happened a few days prior but that was my first time experiencing anything strange
00:02:07.080 | so I thought it would just dissipate and it got worse and the first game comes around.
00:02:11.120 | Yeah, and you were going through warm-ups and then I think you had to play, what, the
00:02:13.520 | first ten seconds before they, it was so close to game time, they had already turned in the
00:02:17.320 | lineup, right?
00:02:18.320 | It was so close to game time, they had already put the lineup up.
00:02:19.320 | So I go to my dad and I'm like, "Dad, I don't think I can play, like I don't know what's
00:02:22.480 | going on but I can't jump right, like I can't produce force like I want to."
00:02:27.640 | And then we went to the coaches and they were like, "Okay, you just have to start the game
00:02:30.920 | because big national TV game, you know, number one player in the country going to the University
00:02:35.800 | of Missouri, you know, which never happens."
00:02:37.680 | And then so, yeah, I had to play the first ten seconds and came out.
00:02:43.000 | And then I followed, you know, I followed what was going on and I knew you came, you
00:02:48.320 | were really rushing to get back because you wanted to help your team and, you know, that
00:02:52.640 | told me a lot about your character.
00:02:54.520 | You know, if you were already thinking about the pros, which is a natural thing, you know,
00:02:59.440 | I think that there's probably part of you that wants to think ultra long-term in that
00:03:05.200 | scenario.
00:03:06.200 | I'm sure there was people around you but it also told me that there was a person inside
00:03:10.080 | of you, inside of that player that was really competitive and wanted to get out there and
00:03:14.600 | you wanted to help your teammates.
00:03:16.680 | And so, you know, as I watched that spring kind of evolve and I heard about your draft
00:03:22.120 | workouts leading into that week, I thought your floor in the draft, I think Chicago had
00:03:27.400 | seven, seven or eight, but I also knew that when you were healthy, you were probably the
00:03:35.140 | best if not one of the top two or three players in that draft.
00:03:38.960 | And we had just missed the playoffs by one game that year and we were thinking that we
00:03:47.840 | were, once we made it back to the playoffs, we knew we weren't going backwards.
00:03:52.320 | We had a good young team and we just had a few things that we needed to, we thought to
00:03:57.040 | really put us in a new level and so the day of the draft, I remember coming over and Tim
00:04:04.000 | had called me the night before the draft and he goes, "Hey, I'm just going to put something
00:04:06.520 | on your radar."
00:04:07.520 | I was like, "What's up?"
00:04:08.800 | Because by missing the playoffs by one game, we picked 14 in the lottery.
00:04:14.840 | And so Tim called me, he's like, "Hey, I want to put something on your radar."
00:04:18.520 | And I'm like, "What's up?"
00:04:19.520 | And he goes, "I heard something from a buddy of mine that Chicago might pass."
00:04:26.080 | And I'm like, "But I thought you told me earlier today that that was Michael's floor."
00:04:29.800 | And he goes, "I don't know.
00:04:31.800 | I don't know what happened.
00:04:32.800 | I'm still trying to gather the information.
00:04:33.800 | I'll talk to you about it in the morning."
00:04:35.200 | And I said, "Okay."
00:04:36.360 | And so I came in the day of the draft and Tim Arturas and I sit down and they said that
00:04:42.140 | you may have had a spasm or something, like I had a workout and it might have scared a
00:04:45.720 | few teams.
00:04:46.720 | And I was like, "Really?"
00:04:47.720 | I was like, "This is just, can we get more data on it?
00:04:50.480 | Is there any kind of..."
00:04:51.480 | And they're like, "We're still trying to piece it together, but he could fall."
00:04:56.000 | And I was like, "What do you mean he could fall?"
00:04:58.560 | And I was like, "Guys, that skill set does not grow on trees."
00:05:03.680 | I was like, "What do you mean he could fall?"
00:05:04.680 | And they're like, "Well, the teams could get scared of the back."
00:05:09.520 | And I said, "Okay."
00:05:10.920 | And so then I rang my dad and he came down that afternoon.
00:05:16.200 | And then the four of us, Arturas, Tim, myself, my dad, and we pulled Coach Malone in as well.
00:05:20.800 | We said, "Look, if he's there, we're going to take him."
00:05:24.880 | And we got all our doctors in.
00:05:27.640 | And it was a really great group experience because we all had to put our heads together
00:05:31.360 | from our own perspective.
00:05:32.880 | Tim and Arturas knew that they believed in your skill set and your talent.
00:05:37.680 | And then you had Coach Malone who was understanding that this is something that was going to play
00:05:41.200 | out over multiple years, whereas a lot of coaches, and this is their job, coaches have
00:05:46.920 | one responsibility, that's to win the next game.
00:05:50.200 | And so you have to put, and then our perspective is even further, it's how can we create the
00:05:54.920 | best talent over time?
00:05:56.920 | And so when your name was still there, it was a no-brainer for us.
00:06:00.640 | It might sound funny to some people, but I was really worried that, you referenced a
00:06:07.400 | team that had two picks ahead of us, and I thought somebody might take a chance.
00:06:11.040 | Somebody's got to take a chance.
00:06:12.880 | And I think they may have if it wasn't for their doctor that was doing the main analysis
00:06:17.320 | on me that day.
00:06:19.600 | And so our decision in the room that day, when we all kind of walked out after discussing
00:06:23.600 | the different concerns and thoughts from all of our own perspectives, was we'll never have
00:06:29.640 | a chance to draft another player like you, especially at that point in time with the
00:06:35.040 | group of players that we had, the skill set that you brought, and you could raise our
00:06:40.620 | ceiling immensely.
00:06:44.080 | But we knew it wasn't going to be right away.
00:06:46.200 | And so we had to, once we drafted you, we got you in, we let our doctors take a look
00:06:51.600 | at you, we made sure that you felt like one of the family, and we knew that there was
00:06:55.760 | going to be a long journey ahead.
00:06:57.360 | And I think you may have known, but looking back, you maybe didn't even realize what you
00:07:02.000 | were going to have to go through.
00:07:03.060 | And so you had another surgery, we sat you out that whole first year, we tried to make
00:07:08.660 | you feel like you were part of the group, hopefully you did, even though you weren't
00:07:12.360 | getting to play.
00:07:13.960 | But I remember coming over to training camp that first year when, I don't even think you
00:07:18.960 | could play, all you could do is just do standstill shooting.
00:07:22.680 | And our shooting coach at the time was, was it Mark Price?
00:07:27.880 | Mark Price.
00:07:28.880 | Yeah, Mark Price.
00:07:29.880 | See, I remember.
00:07:30.880 | And Mark and I were standing there, and I was like, "Mark, what do you think of our
00:07:33.320 | group?"
00:07:34.320 | And he goes, "Wow, there's some really good young players."
00:07:35.560 | And that was when he started to ask about Nicola, and Nicola was just starting to really
00:07:38.840 | show the level that he could dominate.
00:07:42.880 | And I was like, "What do you think?"
00:07:43.880 | And he goes, "I think you've got a really great, great group here."
00:07:45.760 | He goes, "But I'll tell you what."
00:07:46.760 | He goes, "Best shooter in this gym can't play right now."
00:07:50.440 | And I was like, "You're talking about Michael, right?"
00:07:52.440 | And he goes, "Yep."
00:07:53.440 | He goes, "I'm talking about Michael."
00:07:54.440 | He goes, "Take your time with him.
00:07:57.560 | Be patient."
00:07:58.560 | But he goes, "That guy's the best shooter in this gym."
00:08:02.040 | And I said, "Well, that's our plan."
00:08:05.600 | And so, over the course of that year, and then I think your first full season was the
00:08:11.120 | COVID year, right?
00:08:12.120 | Yeah.
00:08:13.120 | Is that right?
00:08:14.120 | My first full season was the first half of the season, and then we go to the bubble.
00:08:18.480 | And so, I saw an important step out of you, which was over the first, I don't know, six
00:08:24.320 | months of the season, I think you were up and down as any rookie is going to be.
00:08:28.920 | You're learning how to play.
00:08:29.960 | You're learning where you fit in the different roles, and you're learning how to play with
00:08:33.920 | some of these guys around you.
00:08:35.800 | And then the season stops, like right around this time four years ago.
00:08:39.400 | COVID hits.
00:08:41.240 | We go into our cocoons, and then we emerge in the bubble a few months later.
00:08:47.480 | And you went from a rookie to a second year player in that little two month span.
00:08:54.840 | In that gap.
00:08:55.840 | Yeah.
00:08:56.840 | And so, when you came into that bubble, I saw a different Michael.
00:08:59.400 | I saw a more confident Michael.
00:09:01.880 | I saw one that knew how to fit within our team, but also went to really use your own
00:09:07.840 | skill set to drive us forward.
00:09:10.160 | And I remember you hitting some big shots in the bubble, and seeing our team really
00:09:14.200 | start to believe in each other.
00:09:16.280 | And I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it.
00:09:19.200 | But then you come out of that, and it's kind of a very short off-season.
00:09:23.200 | We lose Jeremy.
00:09:24.800 | We replace him with Aaron, and then Jamal gets hurt.
00:09:28.760 | And so I knew there was a special group in there, and then you have to wait almost two
00:09:32.760 | years.
00:09:34.080 | And that required a lot of patience on our end.
00:09:36.440 | And we never even remotely thought about veering off the path of the roster that we had.
00:09:42.560 | And now that we got everybody healthy, I could see that you guys last fall, there was a little
00:09:47.440 | bit of a period where you kind of had to play your way into it again.
00:09:51.120 | Jamal had to play his way into it again, gain that confidence in your body.
00:09:54.960 | And then by March, I could tell we were locked in, and then we were just ready for the playoffs.
00:10:01.680 | And then it was like, okay, let's be healthy come April and see where the chips fall.
00:10:06.680 | And I was really proud of the way that you guys just immediately locked in to go 16-4
00:10:13.120 | against the NBA's best shot.
00:10:15.400 | That's not something that a lot of people can say.
00:10:18.720 | Well, man.
00:10:19.720 | I mean, man to man, I appreciate you guys so much taking the chance on me.
00:10:24.440 | I appreciate you, man.
00:10:25.440 | I remember I said at draft night I was going to do whatever I could to be one of the best
00:10:29.680 | draft picks that you guys could ever draft.
00:10:32.080 | And still, I've been through a lot, but like you saw at Mizzou, giving up and giving in
00:10:38.200 | to whatever injuries, that's not part of my DNA.
00:10:41.040 | But I'm so happy to be a Nugget, you know what I mean?
00:10:44.080 | People ask me all the time about that whole draft situation, and I'm like, God does work
00:10:49.600 | in mysterious ways, because it's a blessing that somehow I fell to 14, to a team that
00:10:53.840 | was already winning, so I got to take my time and not rush back after the injury.
00:10:58.920 | And now we've just built this program, this championship level program, from really the
00:11:05.440 | ground up, with adding small pieces, and we got it continued rolling with the young guys
00:11:10.560 | we got now.
00:11:11.560 | Peyton, CB, I know Julian's not playing right now, but Julian, some of the guards we got.