Michael Porter Jr. Enters Elite Nets Company with Kevin Durant and Vince Carter

The month of December has been incredibly kind to the Brooklyn Nets, going 7-4 largely on the heels of their suddenly elite defense.

Michael Porter Jr. has been the one constant for the Nets all season, but he also took it to another level in the final month of the calendar year, joining elite company in the process.

Michael Porter Jr. in December:

- Averaged 28.3 PPG, his most in any single calendar month. Ranked fourth in the East in PPG in the month and tied for second in the league with 48 3-pointers. Scored 20+ points in 9-of-10 games played and led the NBA by making at least five… pic.twitter.com/NRg7S6xu5d
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 1, 2026

Porter is finally showing signs of becoming the player many expected him to become before entering the 2018 NBA Draft, when he slid to No. 14 overall to the Denver Nuggets due to concerns about his back.

Those concerns did not go away for the Missouri product in the early portion of his career, as he's had to undergo back surgery three different times, the latest coming in late 2021.

Porter was hampered by a severe shoulder injury during the 2025 playoffs, his final postseason run with the Nuggets before being jettisoned to Brooklyn alongside a 2032 first-round pick in exchange for Cameron Johnson.

Some questioned whether he'd ever regain the form that earned him a lot of predraft hype and helped the Nuggets win a championship in 2023. Fast forward a few months, and Porter looks like he could legitimately earn a spot in the All-Star Game.

“Mike is a leader by example. He shows up, always been very professional since I got to know him at 19 years old. He’s worked on his body, came in and did his work. Obviously, that shot is pure, but he puts a lot of time into it,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He makes open shots, contested shots and impossible shots. That’s the work that not a lot of people see and his teammates see it.

“And he always does it with a smile on his face; all his teammates appreciate that. When you get to touch everybody in the facility every day and you’re a positive energy, that’s important. You don’t have to say much. You don’t have to use empty words. He just has that smile, and his teammates generally like him. He shows them what a true pro is, who’s been in the league and has won a championship. He’s in a different context here, and he’s making it work.”

Porter’s future in Brooklyn is uncertain at best, but he can take pride in knowing he accomplished something only Kevin Durant and Vince Carter had previously done in a Nets uniform.