It’s certainly not news for Michael Porter Jr. to be running his mouth. His opinions have long been a source of controversy in Denver, and that has only escalated since he left. He has made some eye-opening remarks in Brooklyn, some downright distasteful, and others polarizing at best.
He threw some shade at his former team, in fact, talking multiple times about how he plateaued and implying they were holding him back to an extent, while also taking some indirect shots at the Nuggets’ facilities in his gushing praise of the Nets’ accommodations.
MPJ has been back in the spotlight in Denver recently in a weird way, as we can’t seem to stop relitigating the trade that sent Mike to Brooklyn and brought Cam Johnson to Denver last summer. The trade, which was generally seen as a huge win for the Nuggets, has looked worse and worse as the season has gone on, bordering on disaster with Johnson’s suspect play and health of late.
But now Porter Jr. is back in the spotlight for his commentary again. Except this time, he’s working his way back into the hearts of Nuggets fans just as they have been starting to miss him and yearn for the days of him running around screens and launching 10+ threes a game.
Michael Porter Jr. says Nikola Jokic is the GOAT
On a recent episode of the Emily Austin Show, Porter Jr. was the guest and was asked bluntly, “Who’s the GOAT?”, to which he replied with some qualifiers, “For me, with my two eyes, from what I’ve seen in my life, I’m going to say Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.”
Mike explained how most people will just say it’s Michael Jordan, and while he doesn’t disagree with that, he doesn’t think a lot of people have really watched the film and seen Jordan play. MPJ admitted he hasn’t fully watched every player ever as closely as he could have.
He made sure not to take away from guys like Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and others, but reiterated, “From what I’ve seen day to day, I haven’t seen anybody as dominant as Nikola.”
It’s always great to hear players go to bat for the Joker in the media, especially his former teammates. There was never any real animosity towards Mike, but this should definitely make Denver fans even a little more appreciative of the former Nuggets champion.
Later in the interview, Porter Jr. was asked about how he’d feel if the Nuggets won the title this season, and he responded with a hilarious, and typical Mike comment, saying, “I’d love it, and hate it, if Denver won. I’d love it because those are my friends. But I’d hate it because that means they got better without me. I’m like a toxic ex.” If that doesn’t sum up Mike, I’m not sure what else does.