Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr.'s 3 brothers' troubles: NBA ban, prison sentence, DWI arrest
Jevon Porter, 20, has three older brothers, three potential role models. Like him, all three are basketball players.
Michael Porter Jr., 25, is locked in, pursuing a second consecutive NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets. He’s in the second year of a five-year, $179.3-million contract, a key cog on arguably the best team in the NBA.
Jontay Porter, 24, is locked out, issued a lifetime ban from the NBA on April 17 for violating the league's gambling policy. The NBA launched an investigation against him a month earlier, and the Toronto Raptors backup center was found to have allegedly disclosed confidential information to bettors and limited his participation in at least one game to influence prop bets.
Coban Porter, 22, is locked up, sentenced to six years in a Colorado prison April 19 for killing 42-year-old Uber driver Katharina Rothman while driving drunk. Porter, who played basketball for one season at the University of Denver, pleaded guilty to felony charges of vehicular homicide-DUI and vehicular assault-DUI.
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In the latest chapter of a whirlwind of poor choices with devastating consequences, Jevon was arrested at 1:31 a.m. Saturday in Boone County, Mo., on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The 6-foot-11 forward played the last two seasons at Pepperdine and recently transferred to Loyola Marymount.
"We are aware of recent reports and are gathering information about the matter," Loyola Marymount said in a statement.
The brothers are four of Michael and Lisa Porter's eight children, and the common thread through all 10 family members is basketball excellence.
Michael played at the University of New Orleans, was an assistant coach under Lorenzo Romar at Washington and was director of player development at Missouri. He currently runs a travel program sponsored by Michael Jr. called MPJ Elite.
Lisa (Becker) Porter played basketball at Iowa after averaging an astonishing 58.7 points a game at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High. The oldest Porter children, Bri and Cierra, played at Missouri. The youngest boy is Isaak, who played at Father Tolton Catholic High in Columbia, Mo., and the youngest girl is Jayda, a sophomore star at Columbia Rock Bridge High.
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The actions of Jontay, Coban and Jevon somehow haven't had a negative impact on the play of Michael Jr., who averaged 22.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in the first-round playoff series win over the Lakers that began just days after Jontay was banned from the NBA and Coban was sentenced to prison.
When Jontay was under investigation in the gambling scandal, his older brother vouched for his integrity.
“I know what type of dude he is and I know he’s excited to play basketball and I highly doubt he would do anything to put that in jeopardy,” Michael Jr. said.
Yet the NBA investigation found that Jontay revealed information about his own health to a sports bettor ahead of a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings. The information was also given to another bettor, who placed an $80,000 parlay bet that Porter's stats would be lower than forecast, the inquiry found. Porter played three minutes, left the game with an illness, and if not for the investigation the bet would have paid $1.1 million.
Michael Jr. also spoke up for Coban during his sentencing hearing in a Denver court, describing him as a high achiever who deeply regretted his actions.
“I truly don’t think I’d be in the position I am today as a professional basketball player without a brother like Coban pushing me every day,” Michael Jr. said. “He would get up earlier than me, work out harder than me. I know it’s not often that a big brother looks up to a younger brother, but that is how it was for me.
"As the oldest brother in the family — I wish it was me and not Coban."
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Coban, who police records show had a blood alcohol level of 0.19% — more than twice the legal limit — expressed remorse while addressing Rothman's family in court.
"It wasn't an accident," he said. "I chose to drink and chose to drive home. ... Nothing I say is going to change anything I did — or make any of you feel better. All I can really say is that I'm sorry. I hope whatever comes with sentencing brings you all a little bit of peace."
Less than two weeks later, Jevon was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was released on summons and is expected to appear in Boone County court at an unspecified date.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
