The injury history that makes Michael Porter Jr. a mentally ‘tough’ Nets addition

After three back surgeries and the toll they’ve taken, Michael Porter Jr. said he still loves basketball and wants to keep playing as long as he’s physically and mentally able.

The Nets forward just isn’t sure how long that is.

And won’t have a clue until he reassesses after this season.

“Basketball is my passion. I want to play as long as I can,” said Porter. “It’s just easier in my head to be like, man, give it my all, everything I have this year, and then when the year is over, see where I’m at mentally and reevaluate. But… obviously I wanna play as long as my body allows me to.

“I’ve been through a lot of injuries. But the last few years I’ve been pretty much an iron man… Besides that freak shoulder injury in the playoffs, I was pretty comfortable throughout the whole 82-game season and the playoffs. So if that continues, I want to obviously keep playing as long as I can.”

After topping Denver in starts two years ago with 81, Porter tied for the team lead last season at 77.

His status as an NBA iron man is all the more impressive considering what he’s had to go through to get there from an injury-riddled start.

After herniated disks and a third back surgery in December 2021, Porter has been left with damage to the peroneal nerve, needed a brace for “foot drop,” and even turned to nontraditional means to finally get past the injury woes.

“A lot of it is a lot of hard work on my body. The other part is a lot of hard work when it comes to my mind and my emotional state, my mental state, my spiritual state,” said Porter. “I feel like all that combines together. Nicole Sachs is the name of a woman who helped me a lot, overcome some of the back problems.

“I didn’t realize how much of that actually stemmed from the mental side of things and stress. So once I put all those pieces together and I didn’t just pay attention to the physical side of things, I was able to have a very well-rounded approach to my rehab. And since then, I’ve been (healthy).”

Sachs is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, described in her book “Mind Your Body” as a “psychotherapist and leading Mindbody clinician.”

While Porter admits not many NBA players have gone that nontraditional route, not many have had to fight through what he has, either.

“I needed to try something new after the third surgery, came across her stuff and since then it’s been a game-changer,” said Porter. “So it’s been working for me. And you know I’ve been through it all.”

Actually, Nets coach Jordi Fernández — who was with Porter for four years as a Denver assistant — said few know how much the forward has been through.

“People underestimate how tough mentally Mike and players that went through serious injuries are,” said Fernández. “What he’s accomplished with everything he had to go through is very impressive. I give him a lot of credit.”

Now Fernández is giving Porter a new role: go-to scorer.

“I’m going to want him to be aggressive. I’m going to ask him to shoot the ball, be the best cutter on the floor because he’s a big target and a very good rebounder,” said Fernández. “I’m not going to be asking him to dribble too much… but he can shoot over people. He can rebound. I’m excited to watch him in a different role.”

That will include feasting in the mid-post occupied in Denver by Nikola Jokic, and occasionally Aaron Gordon.

“It’s just different spots on the floor I’m trying to get comfortable in, specifically the mid-post area,” Porter said. “I can score 6 to 8 points easy, just getting comfortable in there, facing up and shooting over the top, or bumping somebody and getting downhill. So in camp, that’s been a place for me that I feel really comfortable in.

“It’s somewhere I feel very comfortable getting to my shot from, and that’ll be a place that down the stretch of games when things slow down, I can utilize that. But yeah, the role is different. We’re still exploring different things.”