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. 00:00:59.880 |
The people are so down to earth, you know, it's a very healthy culture. 00:01:05.600 |
So off the court, it's been really just relaxing for me. 00:01:08.180 |
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. 00:01:33.760 |
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? 00:01:43.700 |
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 00:02:02.720 |
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 00:02:22.420 |
before I go out to play a game, because you can get in the thought process of how important 00:02:26.540 |
the game is, but there's way more important things going on. 00:02:28.840 |
So when I could 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. 00:02:38.140 |
I feel like you can tell the games where you're really playing free and just... 00:02:45.580 |
Some players, when they are really, really just locked in, thinking a lot, play their 00:02:50.540 |
But for me, when I'm playing free, just letting instinct take over and just being myself, 00:02:56.180 |
then that's when I have by far the best game. 00:02:59.660 |
When I'm in my head or whatever, it's definitely not as free-flowing. 00:03:07.740 |
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 00:03:18.100 |
So that was definitely a trying time of my life because my whole basketball career was 00:03:25.220 |
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. 00:03:46.340 |
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'm like, "Dad, 00:03:56.180 |
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. 00:04:06.100 |
So coach was just like, "Mike, you've got to start the game, but we'll pull you out 00:04:14.220 |
And then I end up going to the locker room and I get on the phone with the doctor and 00:04:19.380 |
he's like asking me if I can do certain things and I'm trying it, you know, trying all these 00:04:27.020 |
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. 00:04:37.820 |
I didn't know that that's how you found out you were going to have to have surgery. 00:04:40.740 |
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 00:04:50.940 |
days it was like, it was a serious injury and I was probably going to have to have surgery. 00:04:55.180 |
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. 00:05:07.100 |
I heard people telling me, you know, "You're just sitting out a college game so that you 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, 00:05:21.460 |
so it was just, that definitely took a toll on my mental. 00:05:30.720 |
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 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, 00:06:13.020 |
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 00:06:22.660 |
And then one night, I know your back was bothering you that day a little bit, and then one night, 00:06:27.260 |
it was late, it was probably like 1 or 2 in the morning, I was knocked, I was knocked 00:06:31.460 |
And then all of a sudden, I hear boom, boom, boom on the wall. 00:06:38.940 |
I was like, "Oh my gosh, Michael, did you hear that? 00:06:42.540 |
And you were like, you text me back, you're like, "That was me. 00:06:50.540 |
Because I've never, you never handle pain like that. 00:06:53.460 |
You never, people thought you were just being soft, I'm like, "That is the realest thing 00:06:59.020 |
So, yeah, what she's talking about, I remember that so vividly, but I had, so basically I 00:07:03.580 |
had used that whole year of Mizzou for rehab, and then I was getting healthy again, you 00:07:08.340 |
know, getting ready for the pre-draft, feeling decent. 00:07:11.220 |
And then what ended up happening was, I don't think I re-injured it, I think it was a different 00:07:22.820 |
And realizing how much effort and time took into that first rehab, and realizing I was 00:07:27.540 |
going to have to do that again, even though I was thinking that first rehab period, I'm 00:07:32.420 |
going to use this for my benefit, you know, really try to get mentally strong. 00:07:37.140 |
Once I heard the news that I was going to have to have a second surgery, it was like, 00:07:43.140 |
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." 00:07:54.340 |
So that's really what happened draft-wise, you know, people are like, "Why did he draft 00:07:59.660 |
It was because of that reason, like a lot of teams got scared once they realized I was 00:08:09.380 |
The doctor who wrote my report said that he didn't think I was going to play again. 00:08:17.740 |
And I was kind of scared myself, but I just knew in my head, like, "No, like, this is 00:08:22.140 |
I'm supposed to walk out my purpose through basketball." 00:08:26.540 |
And so 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, like I want to be the best draft pick 00:08:39.020 |
that Denver's ever had, because just of the fact that they believed in me, they trusted 00:08:44.460 |
my work ethic, you know, all these things, it just makes me want to help give back to 00:08:48.820 |
And also, you know, I'm, because of God, like I'm healing, like I feel good, better than 00:08:57.140 |
But back to that question, I think through all of this, now, looking back at that, I 00:09:05.260 |
think those two years, two-plus years of rehab, and just time away from basketball and getting 00:09:11.140 |
to focus on my mental, not really being in the spotlight, all these things, it helped 00:09:17.340 |
And I don't think that I would be who I am today without that period of time. 00:09:20.380 |
If I had just got drafted, been the number one pick, whatever, who knows where I would 00:09:26.880 |
So I really viewed, like I used to think that it was the devil attacking me, like all this 00:09:32.300 |
stuff happening because of the devil, but now I view it like, no, God realized there's 00:09:37.740 |
I want you to become this certain type of person. 00:09:40.400 |
So I'm going to put you through this really hard thing, and like looking back, it's like 00:09:48.380 |
And I think, too, like you said, you had to go through that adversity. 00:09:51.740 |
I think that it teaches you that the God that's in the valley with you, the God that's in 00:09:56.380 |
the pit with you, is the same God that's there with you on the peaks. 00:10:02.020 |
You're pretty well-known now, and I don't think you would have handled that as well 00:10:05.940 |
unless you learned that the God that's with you in the valley doesn't leave you, and he's 00:10:09.260 |
with you in the peaks, and it's still for him. 00:10:12.180 |
I don't think I would have handled the success as well, and I just think that there's no 00:10:20.820 |
I mean, who knows if all these things, if the NBA, whatever, would have changed me. 00:10:25.420 |
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 00:10:45.560 |
And God will always, like when you give your life to God, he's always going to prune you, 00:10:53.340 |
I never would have become or fulfill my purpose for him if I wouldn't have went through that 00:11:01.860 |
This one's, I like this one because it references one of the episodes. 00:11:04.860 |
So in the podcast with Aunt Nancy, you mentioned that you accepted God and Christ, but it was 00:11:09.540 |
more recent that you started to actually live for him. 00:11:12.420 |
What are some ways that you embody Christ-like behavior when it's hard to? 00:11:17.020 |
Yeah, well, I think that, like I gave my life to God early on when I was little, but I never 00:11:24.800 |
really like really tried to live it out for myself until I got to college and I realized 00:11:30.020 |
I could do anything, whatever, and then I realized that's not what I want to be doing. 00:11:35.860 |
So now it's definitely a continual process, and every single year I'm trying to like grow 00:11:43.220 |
I saw a good quote on Instagram, someone had posted on their story, it was like, "The scariest 00:11:48.180 |
thing in the world is to be in the same place that you were last year," and then it was 00:11:52.820 |
like, "Grow," and I think that that's all I've tried to do. 00:11:55.940 |
I mean, it's hard for anybody when they're not feeling like it to embody Christ, but 00:12:00.580 |
I think that the way you do it is spending more time with him and more time of things 00:12:06.340 |
that are going to fill you up with good stuff instead of the bad things. 00:12:10.980 |
So for me, it's just being consistent in my Bible reading every morning, being consistent 00:12:17.580 |
in some of the good music I listen to as well, or some of the good inputs, because I really 00:12:21.500 |
feel like you've got a good wolf and a bad wolf inside of you, and it's whatever one 00:12:27.940 |
And I think that that's an overall theme for your life, but it's also a daily theme. 00:12:32.580 |
If you have more bad input that day than good input, you might act out a little bit more 00:12:37.340 |
that day, but if you're filling yourself up that day with good things, then you're probably 00:12:47.660 |
I think this is a good question too, and it's, "How do you balance discouragement when you're 00:12:55.020 |
I think that you can kind of tie that into the whole bad wolf, good wolf thing. 00:13:01.100 |
How do you balance discouragement when not seeing results but you're working hard? 00:13:04.900 |
I'm sure you've gone through periods of time where you're working really hard, and everyone 00:13:09.220 |
goes through stuff when they're working hard and they plateau, or they aren't seeing the 00:13:14.020 |
You can be working really hard in practice and it's not translating to on the court. 00:13:17.140 |
Even your first year healthy, you probably didn't get the minutes that you felt like 00:13:22.700 |
>> I think it's keeping your overall goals and your overall vision for your life in mind, 00:13:29.500 |
and realizing everything that God's gotten you through. 00:13:32.260 |
He's gotten you through those plateaus before, but the plateaus are going to happen again. 00:13:36.020 |
When you're in a plateau, staying consistent. 00:13:39.980 |
If you don't fall off the rail and get into all your old bad habits and all these things, 00:13:44.540 |
and you stay consistent, stay consistent, then you're going to see a growth spurt. 00:13:47.780 |
It might plateau a little bit again, but if you stay consistent, you're going to see another 00:13:56.460 |
In that, realizing there's going to be plateaus and times when you're not really seeing the 00:14:00.700 |
results of your hard work, those are the times you have to make sure that you're mentally 00:14:13.620 |
Do NBA players play for 10 years, or is that like a way- 00:14:18.180 |
>> Okay, let's just change it to where like, yeah, he's been playing forever. 00:14:20.860 |
Let's change it to like post-basketball, because- 00:14:24.460 |
>> Post-basketball, well, for me, I think I only want to play about 10 more years. 00:14:29.200 |
I want to play like two or three big contracts, and then call it a day, because I want to 00:14:39.340 |
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, get off of all social media, 00:14:50.740 |
and just disappear for like a year or two, and go travel the world with my wife and my 00:14:54.940 |
family, and just disconnect from the entire world. 00:15:00.700 |
As basketball players, we're very used to being in the spotlight. 00:15:03.660 |
I want to know what it feels like to just live life without people judging all your 00:15:08.580 |
moves and everything, and just find some peace that way. 00:15:11.980 |
So that's something I've always wanted to do. 00:15:13.420 |
>> I bet that would be harder than you think, because when you're used to getting affirmation 00:15:17.860 |
from thousands of people, just going off the radar, and just living it. 00:15:23.020 |
>> It definitely would be hard, but it's something that I feel like I've always wanted to do. 00:15:37.600 |
How do you keep authentic, genuine relationships with friends and family? 00:15:42.140 |
>> Yeah, I think it's impossible to be intentional and be super close with 100 different people. 00:15:49.900 |
So for me, it's my family, and then a few people outside of my family, and really trying 00:15:54.740 |
to nurture those relationships, and be intentional about hitting them up. 00:15:58.980 |
If they call me, I'm intentional about trying to pick up their calls. 00:16:03.020 |
I can't do that for tons of different people, but there's definitely a few people that I've 00:16:07.580 |
decided that I want in my life, and those are the ones I have to nurture. 00:16:11.260 |
So I think it's just, but one thing I've learned is it really is intentionality, because it's 00:16:17.940 |
I tend to just want to go through days, and free flowing, whatever happens, happens. 00:16:22.460 |
But to really grow relationships, and to really, it takes a lot of intentionality, because 00:16:31.460 |
Even the family, everyone's here right now on vacation together, and I'm like, "Dang, 00:16:40.020 |
I mean, it's because we're all doing our own things, but it's just intentionality. 00:16:43.340 |
>> But, okay, I want to dig a little deeper on that. 00:16:46.300 |
Do you think it's hard for you when most people, not people in your life, but most people in 00:16:50.620 |
the world have you on a pedestal, but then to, in your genuine relationships and friendships, 00:16:58.660 |
>> That's super important, I think, and that's one of the reasons that I don't think that 00:17:01.460 |
I will ever change with any success, or money, or anything, because I have people in my life 00:17:05.940 |
that know me for me, and if I got injured and never played again, they'd be the same 00:17:12.060 |
If I become the best player in the world, they'd be the same towards me. 00:17:14.780 |
That's my family, and then my friends outside of my family that I'm close to, so it definitely 00:17:24.780 |
I can tell right off the bat people's intentions, girls and dudes, just if they want something 00:17:31.820 |
from me, and then that just makes you, it definitely makes you put yourself in a shell 00:17:35.980 |
a little bit, like you don't really want to branch out to meet more people, but I'm also 00:17:41.060 |
just like I got seven siblings, two parents that love me, great friends, like I don't 00:17:51.780 |
There was a lot of questions about that on here, but I didn't ask them. 00:17:56.780 |
>> Okay, there was a lot of, like, what are you looking for in a woman? 00:17:59.780 |
>> Oh, you got to be bad for sure, but besides, I mean, before bad, you definitely have to 00:18:09.580 |
have a relationship with God, because I'm not trying to pull someone along with me as 00:18:13.060 |
I'm trying to, you know, run after my purpose for God, so you have to be on your own already 00:18:18.200 |
pursuing God, and a lot of girls will trick you. 00:18:20.260 |
They'll act way more spiritual or religious, even though I don't consider myself religious, 00:18:25.420 |
but way more spiritual, way more into that stuff, just so that you are interested. 00:18:29.860 |
So you got to be able to see through that, but definitely that, number one, but before 00:18:35.700 |
that, I definitely got to be attracted to you, and then besides that, I think being 00:18:38.780 |
independent, like a lot of, but it's a balance between being independent and being, like, 00:18:43.820 |
servant-hearted, because my mom is so servant-hearted, and I know the lifestyle I live, traveling, 00:18:48.700 |
whatever, I need a girl who's, like, going to hold it down and, you know, be down for 00:18:53.340 |
that, because there's a lot of girls who just want to chase after their dreams as well, 00:18:57.540 |
and you can do that, but it has to be a balance of being there for me, and also, and then 00:19:02.540 |
you got to be funny, too, because I like to play around a lot, joke around a lot, and 00:19:07.100 |
then one thing that I value very, very much is, like, genuineness, down-to-earthness, 00:19:13.260 |
someone who can just go be spontaneous with me, and isn't bougie, I can't stand bougie 00:19:30.660 |
- Yeah, you can set me up, but you gave me some good advice yesterday. 00:19:33.340 |
You were, like, a couple days ago, you were just, like, don't entertain girls that you 00:19:39.060 |
don't see yourself with, just wait, figure out how to be content with yourself, become 00:19:44.900 |
that person that you want to attract, and then it'll, like, God'll bring it in due time, 00:19:52.140 |
- And it's easy for me to say now, because I've gone through three years of being single, 00:19:56.300 |
and there was times where it was really hard, and I really just wanted attention, and would 00:19:59.840 |
talk to whoever, and then there's, I'm like, first off, time is our most precious commodity. 00:20:03.740 |
Why would I waste my time talking to someone that I know, they're not who I want to end 00:20:08.700 |
up with, I know it's not going to be a forever thing, like, my time is so precious, and two, 00:20:13.900 |
that's other people's feelings, and other people's hearts, so you just got to be, like, 00:20:17.660 |
cool by yourself, and then you'll find someone, someone will come along that adds to that, 00:20:22.660 |
instead of, like, depending on you, you know what I mean? 00:20:26.140 |
Someone's already there, too, and is cool with themselves. 00:20:30.060 |
- Any 6'3" plus dudes out there watching this, you definitely got to, I got to interview 00:20:35.580 |
you first to make sure that you're worthy, but she's single, and she's a great young 00:20:47.900 |
Well, no, hit me up, and then I'll see if you're worthy, and then we'll go from there.