Michael Porter Jr Interview | 2023 NBA Finals Preview | May 31

First question in the back on one, Rachel. Congratulations on NBA Finals. Thank you. When you were a kid and watching NBA Finals, what's the first one that you really remember paying close attention to that made you feel like, I could be in there, I could be on that stage one day? Yeah, I mean, I definitely paid attention to the whole Warriors run, you know what I mean? Growing up, KD was my favorite player. So I remember watching his Finals against LeBron as well. But it's definitely something as a basketball player, all young kids, you know, pay attention to NBA Finals. So to actually be here is definitely, it feels good. When you were a kid and doing that like three, two, one, I assume it was for the championship. Yeah. What does blacktop, driveway, and who are you pretending to be give us the whole scene? Yeah, I mean, I grew up with seven brothers and sisters. So we were all homeschool. We would always be out in the back, the backyard, hooping. But yeah, no, I definitely, like I said, KD was my favorite player growing up. I love the OKC Thunder. And then Steph Curry was my other favorite player. So to have a chance to be here and, you know, compete against them, play against KD in the playoffs earlier, it's just cool. And then obviously I'm on the biggest stage now. It's just cool looking back on the journey. Try not to spend too much time looking back right now to stay focused on getting this ring, but you got to take moments to just look back. Shane, here in the front. Hey, Michael, it's Shane Young with Ford Sports. I know you guys have talked about him throughout the whole year, but what has KCP meant for you guys throughout this whole journey? Yeah, KCP, I think he's the only player in this organization who's won a championship, I think. But he's just been a great voice for us, a great leader. You got to give Calvin Booth some credit, you know, bringing him and Bruce Brown and, you know, the leaders that we have, Ish Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Jeff. I just feel like all those guys, but KCP specifically has just been a great voice for us, you know, constantly talking in the group chat about what we need to do, how we need to prepare. He's become a real good friend of mine off the court as well, so. Tonya, third row over here on the left. Tonya, again, Ghoul in New York Times. I'm wondering if you could describe what you see as Jokic's leadership style. Yeah, I would say he's definitely the more lead by example type. Earlier, someone asked me how I would describe him in one word, and I just said consistent. Like, his consistency on the court, you know, with his production is pretty amazing, but off the court, it's just as amazing, you know, how he is consistently working on his game, you know, attacking his recovery. You know, his routine is very, very consistent, and that's something that I've picked up on. And I think it's definitely helped him maintain that level of consistency on the court as well. Over here in the front, on your right. Nope. Okay, next question in the back, standing on the right. Hey, Michael. Pat Graham, Associated Press. You were talking about, the other day, about Brandon Roy and what he meant to you. What was it like going up against, you know, an all-star like that, and what did he teach you in those, I guess you play a lot of one-on-one with him in practice? Yeah, he definitely, he means the world to me. Yeah, so that was my high school coach my senior year, won a state championship with him, but he really helped me take my game to the next level. He didn't get on the court too much with us because of his knee stuff, but he would get out there once in a while, and he could still, you know, still hoop. So he taught me a lot of things, you know, how to deal with different situations off the court, on the court. But yeah, he's definitely my guy. We still talk very often, so. In the back, last row. Hi, Michael. Sergio here from the Drafteados of Spain. I was listening to Paul George's podcast the other day, and he said that he watches his own highlights to get his confidence up. I was curious if you do something like that, or what is it that you need to get your confidence up to shoot at that level? I don't really need to get my confidence up, really. It just kind of stays with me. I think when you're going maybe through a shooting slouch, maybe you want to watch some of your makes, you know, watch the ball go through on tape. So I do that once in a while. But yeah, I mean, honestly, I like watching my mistakes more than I do my highlights, just to see what I can do better on both sides of the ball. So that's just, but everyone's different. Everyone's different in the way that they prepare for a game and how they get themselves ready. Any other questions? We'll go right here in the center, on the second row. Michael, Sebastian Hernandez for Hispanic Sports Media. When you go back at the beginning of the season, what do you think are the most important things that this team improved to come here and now be in the finals for the first time in your history? I'm sorry, say that one more time. What is the thing? What do you think are the most important things that you have improved like as a team to be here in the finals? Yeah, I think this year we've shown a lot of resilience. I think has been a big one. You know, we've been very good in clutch moments this year. We've been very good protecting home court this year. But I just think our sense of togetherness, you know, the guys in the locker room encouraging each other and things like that has been better this year than, you know, the previous years that I've been here. Not saying it wasn't already good, but like I said, bringing in some of those veteran guys, KCP, DeAndre, Jeff, Ish, Reggie, they definitely help out with that aspect of it. So just a steadiness and a consistency as a team, not too high, not too low. I think that that's helped us just maintain our level of play. Left side, third row here. Michael, Tomer Zarley from Clutch Points. When you're going through those surgeries over the last couple of years and trying to get right to get to this biggest stage, is it hard to see kind of the light at the end of the tunnel and how you can get here at this point? Yeah, I would say there's definitely times anyone who's been through rehab or had an injury has those days where it gets very like worrisome. But I think one thing that's just helped me is like a capability to just, you know, put my feelings aside and just go do what needs to be done. But at this point, I just put in the work. I try to take care of my body as well as I can and I just leave the rest up to God, you know, try to have a faith that if this is what I'm supposed to be doing, then he'll keep me healthy, you know what I mean? So that took a lot of like pressure off of me, but it's definitely been tough coming back from three surgeries. So try to be grateful for the moment and still know that I have a long way to go to be the player that I want to be, but definitely got to stay grateful. Third row over here. Vince Goodwill, Yahoo Sports. Michael, you came into the league with a lot of fanfare. You were highly rated coming out of high school and college. How do you balance doing just enough on this team, playing behind Jamal and Nikola while fighting that maybe that urge to wanting to do more, knowing that you have the capability to do more? Yeah, I think it's definitely a sacrifice thing, but I think a lot of players on this team sacrifice, you know, Aaron came from Orlando where he might've been the number one option over there to over here, changing his style of play a little bit, you know, same with me growing up, always having the ball in my hand, doing a lot of things offensively on the court, but any good team in the NBA, you know, you got to have guys that are willing to play a role and sacrifice if you want to get to the point where we're at right now. So it's panned out well. And like I said, it's definitely a balance between sacrificing and still trying to get better and continue to grow. So that's, that just is a mental balance that you have to have. Take last two questions on the right and then Jeff in the middle. Arnie Stapleton, Associated Press. Mike, could you speak to the defense that Aaron Gordon has played, especially in these playoffs, he matches up against the top scorers and how that kind of spreads through the rest of the starting five? Yeah, he's definitely, I would say him and KCPR are defensive anchors. So Aaron, you know, he guarded first round, who'd he guard? I think he guarded Cat, then he guarded KD and then LeBron, you know what I mean? So he's guarded some high powered offensive players and he just has really done a good job for us. Even when he's not scoring a whole lot, he's continued to compete on defense and been an anchor for us on that side. So there's really not a way to describe how valuable he is to our team and I'm looking forward to seeing him do that again in the series. Jeff, last question in the center. Jeff Zilgit, USA Today. Michael, what makes playing alongside Nicola, what are the components that make playing alongside him so enjoyable? Yeah, I think I just enjoy his humility and his selflessness off the court and just, you know, he has different interests off the court. So, yeah, just seeing, and then seeing how he is on the court really is just his passing, his willingness to let others shine. You know, he could probably go out there and be super aggressive scoring every single game, but he enjoys passing, get others involved. But yeah, I would say the most thing I enjoy about him is just his consistency as a person and just his humility off the court and his selflessness, which that's off the court and on the court. He's just a good dude, you know what I mean? Thank you. Appreciate y'all.