back to indexBONUS EPISODE: Q&A // Michael Porter Jr.
Chapters
0:0
1:51 What Separates Nba Players from Other Players
12:49 How Do You Balance Discouragement When You'Re Not Seeing Results but You'Re Working Hard
13:0 How Do You Balance Discouragement When Not Seeing Results but You'Re Working Hard
15:35 Live Such a Busy Lifestyle How Do You Keep Authentic Genuine Relationships with Friends and Family
17:56 What Are You Looking for in a Woman
20:27 How Tall Are You 6'3
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What's up everybody, I appreciate you guys tuning in to season one of Curious Mike. 00:00:04.660 |
Right now we're doing a bonus episode where you guys get to be curious and ask me questions. 00:00:17.840 |
So for this bonus episode, we had you guys comment on an Instagram post, questions you 00:00:24.220 |
And so that's what we're going to do right now. 00:00:28.580 |
I haven't seen any of them, so let's get it going. 00:00:34.480 |
We're not going to get through all of them, but we will start with something easy. 00:00:40.560 |
How has Denver helped you develop and grow not only as a Hooper, but as an individual? 00:00:45.100 |
Yeah, I mean, I think when I first got drafted to Denver, I had never even visited Denver 00:00:54.220 |
But then going out there, it was like, I fell in love with the city instantly. 00:01:05.600 |
So off the court, it's been really just relaxing for me. 00:01:08.140 |
It's a chill city, but you can still have fun. 00:01:10.340 |
And then on the court, I mean, we got one of the best young teams in the league. 00:01:17.380 |
I think one thing that makes our team unique is just how selfless we are as a team. 00:01:22.780 |
Like everyone wants to see each other succeed. 00:01:25.700 |
And that's really refreshing to be on a team like that, because you hear stories of guys 00:01:29.960 |
that used to play on other teams coming to Denver, and it didn't used to be like that. 00:01:33.740 |
So it's definitely a blessing to be on a team like that. 00:01:39.580 |
What are your season superstitions or pregame rituals? 00:01:43.540 |
Yeah, I don't really have too many superstitions. 00:01:47.380 |
I think a lot of players ask me about what separates NBA players from other players. 00:01:57.020 |
So I don't have any superstitions, but I do have a routine that I stick to very closely 00:02:02.700 |
That just includes all my pregame lifts, my pregame stretching. 00:02:11.460 |
And then before I go out on the court, I always say like a prayer, and I try to read some 00:02:14.820 |
scripture of the Bible just to calm my nerves and help me realize what's really important 00:02:23.580 |
Because you can get in the thought process of how important the game is, but there's 00:02:28.840 |
So when I can refocus my thinking, it just lets me go out there and play free and not 00:02:34.140 |
worry too much about the outcome, just be in the moment. 00:02:38.100 |
I feel like you can tell the games where you're really playing free and just... 00:02:45.620 |
Some players, when they are really, really just locked in, thinking a lot, play their 00:02:50.580 |
But for me, when I'm playing free, just letting instinct take over, and just being myself, 00:02:56.220 |
then that's when I have my by-far the best game. 00:02:59.700 |
When I'm in my head or whatever, it's definitely not as free-flowing. 00:03:07.780 |
What was it like having to sit out basically your whole college season, and what type of 00:03:14.060 |
This is something that a lot of people, they do know, but they don't really know the extent 00:03:19.860 |
That was definitely a trying time in my life, because my whole basketball career was just 00:03:24.740 |
I remember being ranked for the first time in the eighth grade, I think I was 25th. 00:03:29.140 |
And then after that, it was just, I was rising to the top super quick, until all of a sudden 00:03:35.500 |
And then I committed to Mizzou, going back home, everybody was super excited and everything, 00:03:41.140 |
and people were just treating me like I was like a god or something, walking around campus. 00:03:46.320 |
Everywhere I went, people, it was just, it was crazy. 00:03:49.100 |
So then that first game, when I, I told my dad, I remember telling dad, I was like, "Dad, 00:03:56.580 |
I'm going through warm-up lines, and I can't really jump. 00:04:00.420 |
And so, but the TV had already had the starters ready to announce, so coach was just like, 00:04:07.540 |
"Mike, you got to start the game, but we'll pull you out right away." 00:04:10.820 |
So I go in, knowing I'm coming out, and then I end up going to the locker room, and I get 00:04:18.220 |
on the phone with the doctor, and he's like asking me if I can do certain things, and 00:04:22.020 |
I'm trying it, you know, trying all these different exercises, whatever, I'm like, "I 00:04:27.260 |
And he's like, "Man, like, yeah, you're going to, you're probably going to have to get surgery." 00:04:33.460 |
Like, I had no idea, like, because I had never had any injuries. 00:04:37.860 |
I didn't know that that's how you found out you were going to have to have surgery. 00:04:40.660 |
Yeah, like, he just told me, because I couldn't do something that he had asked if I could 00:04:45.860 |
And so then I remember, I remember just when that announcement came out, the next couple 00:04:51.060 |
of days, it was like, it was a serious injury, and I was probably going to have to have surgery. 00:04:55.060 |
Man, it felt like the whole Mizzou fan base, everybody who, everybody just, you know, it 00:05:04.540 |
Not necessarily hate, but it was like that love wasn't really there, but I heard people 00:05:07.740 |
telling me, you know, "You're just sitting at a college game so that you can, like, skip 00:05:13.580 |
I had people saying, like, it was all types of stuff. 00:05:16.460 |
People were sending me crazy DMs, all this crazy stuff, like, and I was a young kid, 00:05:21.440 |
so it was just, that definitely took a toll on my mental. 00:05:30.740 |
But I was so used to everything being so easy for me, basketball-wise, that when that happened, 00:05:35.180 |
it was just, like, it was, it was kind of devastating to me, I'm not going to lie. 00:05:40.440 |
But then I remember, you know, going through that process of the year rehab, and really 00:05:45.900 |
deciding early on in that rehab process, "No, I'm going to use this for my benefit." 00:05:50.900 |
My whole life, people have been praising me, whatever, but this is a time where I can really 00:05:54.300 |
focus on my mental strength, find an identity outside of basketball, and so that's what 00:06:01.820 |
And you know, I had doctors telling me I might not play again. 00:06:06.900 |
You heard me some of those nights, when that pain was crazy, and I was just like, "See, 00:06:12.940 |
Okay, so we were, he was in Chicago training for the draft, and it was after you got through 00:06:16.260 |
all the rehab of your first surgery, and everything was going pretty smooth, like, your workouts 00:06:20.540 |
were good, you were looking really healthy, and then one night, I know your back was bothering 00:06:24.660 |
you that day a little bit, and then one night, it was late, it was probably like one or two 00:06:28.500 |
in the morning, I was knocked, I was knocked out, and all of a sudden I hear, "Boom, boom, 00:06:34.540 |
And I woke up so fast, I thought there was a robber. 00:06:38.940 |
I was like, "Oh my gosh, Michael, did you hear that? 00:06:42.100 |
And you were like, you text me back, you're like, "That was me. 00:06:48.420 |
But I was like, "That's crazy," because I've never, you never handle pain like that. 00:06:53.480 |
You never, people thought you were just being soft, and I'm like, "That was the realest 00:06:58.900 |
So, yeah, what she's talking about, I remember that so vividly, but I had, so basically I 00:07:03.660 |
had used that whole year of Mizzou for rehab, and then I was getting healthy again, getting 00:07:08.660 |
ready for the pre-draft, feeling decent, and then what ended up happening was I don't think 00:07:16.540 |
I think it was a different level in my back or whatever that flared up. 00:07:20.060 |
So I ended up having to get another surgery, and realizing how much effort and time took 00:07:25.180 |
into that first rehab, and realizing I was going to have to do that again, even though 00:07:29.580 |
I was thinking that first rehab period, I'm going to use this for my benefit, really try 00:07:37.100 |
Once I heard the news that I was going to have to have a second surgery, it was like, 00:07:43.120 |
that definitely put me into a depression mode for a little bit, because I was like, "Dang, 00:07:47.620 |
all this time spent, and I'm going to have to do it all over again, and now people are 00:07:52.100 |
These teams that are drafting me are really going to be scared." 00:08:02.660 |
A lot of teams got scared once they realized I was going to have to have a second surgery. 00:08:09.420 |
The doctor who wrote my report said that he didn't think I was going to play again. 00:08:17.780 |
I was kind of scared myself, but I just knew in my head, "No, this is my purpose. 00:08:22.140 |
I'm supposed to walk out my purpose through basketball." 00:08:27.780 |
That's why, back to the earlier question, Denver. 00:08:30.220 |
When Denver drafted me, and they showed that they believed in me, that just made me, like 00:08:35.140 |
I said at draft night, and I still say it today, I want to be the best draft pick that 00:08:39.140 |
Denver has ever had, because just of the fact that they believed in me, they trusted my 00:08:44.540 |
work ethic, all these things, it just makes me want to help give back to the program, 00:08:48.380 |
and also, because of God, I'm healing, I feel good, better than ever, and it's just dope. 00:08:59.280 |
Back to that question, I think through all of this, now, looking back at that, I think 00:09:05.460 |
those two plus years of rehab, and just time away from basketball, and getting to focus 00:09:11.560 |
on my mental, not really being in the spotlight, all these things, it helped create the person 00:09:17.580 |
I don't think that I would be who I am today without that period of time. 00:09:20.460 |
If I had just got drafted, been the number one pick, whatever, who knows where I would 00:09:25.420 |
be without the adversity, so I really viewed, like I used to think that it was the devil 00:09:29.420 |
attacking me, like all this stuff happening because of the devil, but now I view it like, 00:09:34.340 |
no, God realized there's way more important things than basketball, I want you to become 00:09:38.500 |
this certain type of person, so I'm going to put you through this really hard thing, 00:09:44.220 |
and looking back, it's like the biggest blessing I could have ever had. 00:09:48.380 |
And I think, too, like you said, you had to go through that adversity, I think that it 00:09:52.300 |
teaches you that the God that's in the valley with you, that God that's in the pit with 00:09:56.900 |
you, is the same God that's there with you on the peaks, so you're going to have these 00:10:01.100 |
successes now, you're pretty well known now, and I don't think you would have handled that 00:10:05.420 |
as well unless you learned that the God that's with you in the valley doesn't leave you, 00:10:09.180 |
and he's with you in the peaks, and it's still for him, he's still the reason. 00:10:12.100 |
I don't think I would have handled the success as well, and I just think that there's no 00:10:16.980 |
telling who I would even be, I mean, who knows if all these things, if the NBA, whatever, 00:10:25.580 |
I've seen a lot of people changed by all these things, changed by money, changed by fame, 00:10:29.700 |
and when I got to become my own person, aside from basketball, basketball, you know, since 00:10:35.900 |
When I got that break from basketball and got to focus on me, I got to really take time 00:10:39.540 |
to develop me, and I think that that is going to take me farther in life than basketball 00:10:44.380 |
ever could, and God will always, like, when you give your life to God, he's always going 00:10:50.260 |
to prune you, so I just view it as a pruning process. 00:10:53.340 |
I never would have become or fulfilled my purpose for him if I wouldn't have went through 00:11:01.860 |
This one's, I like this one because it references one of the episodes. 00:11:04.840 |
So in the podcast with Aunt Nancy, you mentioned that you accepted God and Christ, but it was 00:11:09.520 |
more recent that you started to actually live for him. 00:11:12.380 |
What are some ways that you embody Christ-like behavior when it's hard to? 00:11:16.780 |
Yeah, well, I think that, like, I gave my life to God early on when I was little, but 00:11:24.500 |
I never really, like, really tried to live it out for myself until I got to college and 00:11:29.540 |
I realized I could do anything, whatever, and then I realized that's not what I want 00:11:35.820 |
So now it's definitely a continual process, and every single year I'm trying to, like, 00:11:39.860 |
grow in different characteristics or whatever. 00:11:45.720 |
Someone had posted on their story, it was like, "The scariest thing in the world is 00:11:48.800 |
to be in the same place that you were last year," and then it was like, "Grow." 00:11:54.280 |
And I think that that's all I've tried to do. 00:11:55.920 |
I mean, it's hard for anybody when they're not feeling like it to embody Christ, but 00:12:00.560 |
I think that the way you do it is spending more time with Him and more time of things 00:12:06.320 |
that are going to fill you up with good stuff instead of the bad things. 00:12:10.960 |
So, like, for me it's just being consistent in my Bible reading every morning, you know, 00:12:16.800 |
being consistent in some of the good music I listen to as well, or some of the good inputs, 00:12:21.120 |
because I really feel like you've got a good wolf and a bad wolf inside of you, and it's 00:12:25.080 |
whatever one you feed more is going to be winning. 00:12:27.960 |
And I think that that's an overall theme for your life, but it's also a daily theme. 00:12:32.480 |
Like if you have more bad input that day than good input, you might act out a little bit 00:12:37.160 |
more that day, but if you're filling yourself up that day with good things, then you're 00:12:47.200 |
I think this is a good question too, and it's, "How do you balance discouragement when you're 00:12:55.000 |
I think that you can kind of tie that into the whole bad wolf, good wolf thing. 00:13:01.080 |
>> How do you balance discouragement when not seeing results but you're working hard? 00:13:04.800 |
Like I'm sure you've gone through periods of time where you're working really hard and 00:13:08.220 |
you, I mean, everyone goes through stuff when they're working hard and they plateau, or 00:13:13.240 |
Like you can be working really hard in practice and it's not translating to on the court. 00:13:16.600 |
I mean, even your first year healthy, you probably didn't get the minutes that you felt 00:13:22.680 |
>> I think it's keeping your overall goals and your overall vision for your life in mind 00:13:29.240 |
and realizing everything that God's gotten you through, he's gotten you through those 00:13:32.920 |
plateaus before, but the plateaus are going to happen again. 00:13:35.840 |
So when you're in a plateau, like staying consistent. 00:13:39.960 |
If you don't fall off the rail and get into all your old bad habits and all these things 00:13:44.400 |
and you stay consistent, stay consistent, then you're going to see a growth spurt. 00:13:47.800 |
And then it might plateau a little bit again, but if you stay consistent, you're going to 00:13:52.760 |
Like life is never just an uphill the whole time. 00:13:55.560 |
So realizing that and realizing there's going to be plateaus and times when you're not really 00:14:00.320 |
seeing the results of your hard work, those are the times you have to make sure that you're 00:14:04.760 |
mentally strong and staying consistent in your grind. 00:14:13.620 |
Do NBA players play for 10 years or is that like a way? 00:14:17.240 |
>> Okay, let's just change it to where like, yeah, he's been playing forever. 00:14:20.880 |
Let's change it to like post-basketball because. 00:14:25.520 |
Well, for me, I think I only want to play about 10 more years. 00:14:29.240 |
I want to play like two or three big contracts and then call it a day because I want to be 00:14:39.360 |
But I think 10 years from now, I'm definitely going to be married. 00:14:44.540 |
I think once I'm done with basketball, I want to take some time and get off of all social 00:14:50.080 |
media and just disappear for like a year or two and go travel the world with my wife and 00:14:54.840 |
my family and just disconnect from the entire world. 00:14:58.800 |
And, you know, as basketball players, we're very used to being in the spotlight. 00:15:03.640 |
I want to know what it feels like to just live life without, you know, people judging 00:15:08.080 |
all your moves and everything and just find some peace that way. 00:15:11.960 |
So that's something I've always wanted to do. 00:15:13.360 |
>> I bet that would be harder than you think because when you're used to getting like affirmation 00:15:17.840 |
from thousands of people just going off the radar and just living it. 00:15:23.040 |
>> It definitely would be hard, but it's something that I feel like I've always wanted to do. 00:15:37.560 |
How do you keep authentic, genuine relationships with friends and family? 00:15:42.080 |
>> Yeah, I think it's impossible to be intentional and be super close with 100 different people. 00:15:49.880 |
So for me, it's my family and then a few few people outside of my family and really trying 00:15:54.720 |
to nurture those relationships and be intentional about hitting them up. 00:15:58.120 |
You know, if they call me, I'm intentional about trying to pick up their calls like I 00:16:05.880 |
But there's definitely a few people that I've decided that I want in my life. 00:16:11.260 |
So I think it's just one thing I've learned is it really is intentionality because it's 00:16:17.800 |
I tend to just want to go through days and, you know, free flowing, whatever happens happens. 00:16:22.480 |
But to really grow relationships and to really it takes a lot of intentionality because everyone's 00:16:29.200 |
Everyone's so busy doing their thing, even like the family, like everyone's here right 00:16:34.200 |
And I'm like, dang, I don't even hit up Isaac that much. 00:16:40.320 |
Sometimes we're all doing our own things, but it's just intentionality. 00:16:43.280 |
>> But, OK, I want to dig a little deeper on that. 00:16:46.320 |
Do you think it's hard for you when most people, not people in your life, but most people in 00:16:50.640 |
the world have you on a pedestal, but then to like in your genuine relationships and 00:16:59.840 |
And that's one of the reasons that I don't think that I will ever change with any success 00:17:03.300 |
and money or anything, because I have people in my life that know me for me. 00:17:08.160 |
And if I got injured and never played again, they'd be the same towards me. 00:17:11.760 |
If I become the best player in the world, they'd be the same towards me. 00:17:15.840 |
And then like my friends outside of my family that I'm close to. 00:17:19.040 |
So it definitely is harder, but like I have a good intuition. 00:17:24.840 |
I can tell right off the bat people's intentions, like girls and dudes, just like if they want 00:17:33.200 |
And then that just makes you, it definitely makes you put yourself in a shell a little 00:17:37.360 |
Like you want to branch out to meet more people. 00:17:40.720 |
But I'm also just like, I got seven siblings, two parents that love me, great friends. 00:17:45.120 |
Like I don't need that much more than, I don't need that much more. 00:17:51.920 |
There was a lot of questions about that on here, but I didn't ask a shorty question. 00:17:57.520 |
There was a lot of like, what are you looking for in a woman? 00:18:04.120 |
I mean, before bad, you definitely have to have a relationship with God because I'm not 00:18:11.000 |
trying to pull someone along with me as I'm trying to, you know, run after my purpose 00:18:16.400 |
So you have to be on your own already pursuing God. 00:18:20.280 |
They'll act way more spiritual or religious, even though I don't consider myself religious. 00:18:25.480 |
But way more spiritual, way more into that stuff just so that you are interested. 00:18:29.880 |
So you got to be able to see through that, but definitely that, number one. 00:18:35.160 |
But before that, I definitely got to be attracted to you. 00:18:37.120 |
And then besides that, I think being independent, like a lot of, but it's a balance between 00:18:42.200 |
being independent and being like servant-hearted. 00:18:45.200 |
Because my mom is so servant-hearted, and I know the lifestyle I live, traveling, whatever, 00:18:49.360 |
I need a girl who's like going to hold it down and, you know, be down for that. 00:18:53.520 |
Because there's a lot of girls who just want to chase after their dreams as well. 00:18:57.520 |
And you can do that, but it has to be a balance of being there for me and also, and then you 00:19:02.560 |
got to be funny too, because I like to play around a lot, joke around a lot. 00:19:07.040 |
And then one thing that I value very, very much is like genuineness, down-to-earthness, 00:19:13.240 |
someone who can just go be spontaneous with me, and isn't bougie. 00:19:33.920 |
You were like, a couple of days ago, you were just like, don't entertain girls that you 00:19:39.040 |
don't see yourself with, just wait, figure out how to be content with yourself, become 00:19:44.840 |
that person that you want to attract, and then it'll, like God will bring it in due 00:19:51.480 |
And it's easy for me to say now, because I've gone through three years of being single, 00:19:56.260 |
and there was times where it was really hard, and I really just wanted attention, and would 00:19:59.800 |
talk to whoever, and then there's, I'm like, first off, time is our most precious commodity. 00:20:03.720 |
Why would I waste my time talking to someone that I know, they're not who I want to end 00:20:08.640 |
up with, I know it's not going to be a forever thing, like, my time is so precious, and two, 00:20:13.800 |
like, that's other people's feelings, and other people's hearts, so you just got to 00:20:17.280 |
be like, cool by yourself, and then you'll find someone, someone will come along that 00:20:21.640 |
adds to that, instead of, like, depending on you, you know what I mean? 00:20:26.080 |
Someone's already there, too, and it's cool with them, so. 00:20:30.660 |
Any 6'3" plus dudes out there watching this, you definitely got to, I got to interview 00:20:35.660 |
you first to make sure that you're worthy, but she's single, and she's a great young 00:20:47.820 |
Well, no, hit me up, and then I'll see if you're worthy, and then we'll go from there. 00:20:51.740 |
Anyways, great job answering questions, we'll wrap this up. 00:20:55.740 |
I appreciate you guys for tuning in, and we out.