Michael Porter Jr. has become a popular name among Denver Nuggets fans and has rendered himself their most important role player. MPJ has been around since 2018 but his most recent campaign with the Nuggets has been the most successful. Denver has earned a shot at the title after several years of consistent battle in the Western Conference.
Michael did not spend too much time in college as he knew he was good enough to compete at the highest stage. He spent one season at Washington State but eventually de-committed and joined the University of Missouri where his father coached. In 2018, after having a short injury-filled stint at Missouri, he declared for the NBA Draft and was selected 14th overall by the Nuggets.
Porter Jr. has spent five years in the league but only played three full seasons with Denver due to injuries. Despite all odds, the Nuggets know exactly how to utilize him. He has had 187 appearances in the league excluding playoff games. MPJ’s best season was the 2020-2021 campaign when he averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds in 61 regular season games. During the 2022-23 season, he put up 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. Let us take a look at his injury timeline.
Michael Porter Jr. has missed more NBA games than he has played
Michael Porter Jr. could have appeared in nearly 400 games in his five-season career. Unfortunately, his appearances stand at 187 games while he has missed 201 games for the Nuggets. One of the biggest reasons behind this absurd unequal ratio is because of lingering back injuries. Porter missed out on his entire rookie season despite signing a multi-year deal with the Nuggets.
Michael Porter Jr was told he would never play basketball again bc of injury. Hear how he turned from resentment into seeing it as a blessing.#NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/86s29UqxgE
— AIA Basketball (@aia_basketball) June 1, 2023
In college, he had major back issues which led to a microdiscectomy surgery in his L3 and L4 spinal discs. He managed to appear in a few college games before getting drafted. However, the Nuggets sidelined him for the entirety of his rookie season and he only made his debut in 2019. In his debut season, he went through a couple of minor injuries related to his wrist and ankle.
In January 2021 he missed a couple of games due to COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols. But the following season is when the Nuggets announced that he required a third surgery to fix his herniated discs. Michael Porter Jr. returned during the 2022-23 season averaging a fairly good number as well. Despite having a slight setback with a heel injury, MPJ managed to take up a lot of responsibilities for the Nuggets.