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�...