There’s no shortage of pettiness in the NBA. But who would’ve thought it started at the very top. Michael Porter Jr. Is arguably thriving since his Denver exit. But it didn’t mean he had to like it. Especially when the improved performance brought him within an inch of the All-Star Weekend. But a rookie mistake involving Adam Silver, so he thinks, kept that out of reach.
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MPJ had a lot to vent when he joined N3ON on his livestream. Some of it had to do with his former team. Others, about not getting the first All-Star nod of his career while having a breakout season season with the Brooklyn Nets. When he cracked top 10 in the fan votes, many thought he would make it.
But he speculates the NBA commissioner had something to do with his exclusion. “I think I may have not made the All-Star team because I leaked Adam Silver’s number,” said Porter, bringing back the viral Welcome to the League moment he created for himself in 2019.
But for those who forgot, he went behind the scenes of it. “Back in the day, it was the Rookie Transition Camp in New York, and they were going through a slideshow presentation. And I was on Snapchat, and I actually took a snapshot, and I posted it to my story, and had his number on the background.”
Michael Porter Jr. believes he didn’t make the All-Star team because Adam Silver is still salty about him leaking his number. 😭 “He had to change his number.. I’m thinking I’m about to get kicked out the league. I think when it was time for All Star voting he was salty. He Show more
The incident of typical youthful digital negligence is still fresh on the minds of Denver fans from back then. Obviously, having Silver’s direct contact out there was a big faux pas his sister told him to correct. But by the time he deleted it, Porter told N3ON that it had been screenshot 500 times within minutes and had gone viral on NBA Twitter (Now X.com) with over 30 million views.
Everyone wanted a piece of Adam Silver that bad. But he had changed his number and who knows if he gave the new one to the players (maybe he did to everyone but MPJ).
Porter, who’s dealing with his own private information leak now, didn’t have the chance to personally apologize to the NBA commissioner until the Nuggets won the 2023 championship and Silver presented him with his championship ring. Still, Porter believes Silver is hilariously holding on to the grudge over his rookie blunder.
“So I think, when it was time for All-Star voting, he’s probably a little salty because he picks the replacements. The players that get injured, Adam Silver picks the replacements,” he told the streamer. Maybe, just maybe, he’s right. The new USA vs World format was mostly fan-voted. However, MPJ had the chance to be in one of the American teams with multiple injuries sidelining the original cast.
Steph Curry did not play for Team OG due to his runner’s knee, and Brandon Ingram replaced him. De’Aaron Fox replaced Giannis Antetokounmpo. Norman Powell moved to the World Team because of his Jamaican roots and Silver also added Kawhi Leonard to one of the two U.S. Teams.
At that point, MPJ was outdoing Ingram statistically. He put up career highs of 24.2 points and 7.1 rebounds this season while the Raptors star was slightly behind with 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists and even did better than De’Aaron Fox. However, fans have their own theory. As MPJ’s Nets team was allegedly tanking while the Raptors and Spurs were already playoff contenders, they think Silver picked the players from the leading teams.
If he was part of the weekend in Inglewood, MPJ would’ve had the chance to reunite with his former teammate, Nikola Jokic. Because he just proved he’s keeping a keen eye on them.
Michael Porter Jr. is salty about Nuggets’ rejection too
The commentary on the Commissioner was just one part of an illuminating session where Porter Jr. also took aim at his former team, the Denver Nuggets. He was on N3ON’s livestream within hours of Denver’s first round elimination by the Minnesota Timberwolves. So obviously, Porter Jr. reflected on the 2025 offseason trade that sent him to Brooklyn in exchange for Cameron Johnson.
He revealed that his final days in Denver were marred by a severe shoulder injury that he kept private while attempting to help the Nuggets against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “I made myself look really bad because I’m playing through a crazy injury. Can’t even lift my arm,” Porter Jr. shared, describing a grueling routine of getting needles in his shoulder before every game. He believes the Nuggets misjudged his value based on that diminished performance.
When asked by N3ON if the Nuggets would have won against the Wolves with him on the roster, Porter Jr. was emphatic. “Yes… shouldn’t have traded me, man,” he said. No shade to the current Nuggets, but the only time they have beaten the Wolves in the playoffs, was in 2023 with MPJ. They’ve been 3-1 for the rest of their playoff history.
And he’s not the only one who thinks. Within seconds of Nuggets’ elimination, social media was mad at Cameron Johnson, calling him a downgrade as he averaged just 12.2 points this season compared to Porter’s 24.3. Clearly, he’s no longer making himself “look bad,” enough to warrant an All-Star nod only to end up snubbed there too.
Despite the bitterness toward the trade and the All-Star snub, Porter Jr. remains optimistic where he is in Brooklyn, hoping that the Nets can build a contender around his career-best form this offseason.
