The Porter family has navigated a rocky road to NBA stardom. While Michael Porter Jr. overcame three back surgeries to become a 2023 NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets , his brothers have faced far darker struggles.
One is serving a prison sentence for vehicular homicide and the other, Jontay , was slapped with a lifetime ban from the NBA following a high-profile gambling scandal. Despite the shadow cast over his career, Jontay has resurfaced in the USBL with the Seattle Super Hawks.
There, he has found an unlikely mentor in Hall of Famer Gary Payton , who currently serves as a team consultant. The Glove isn't just offering guidance; he's campaigning for the NBA to abolish lifetime suspension.
"Unfortunately, he got in trouble, but he's a good kid," Payton explained in his interview with "Covers". "He's a quiet kid, a family kid... He made a mistake and that's what was going on. But as a basketball player, he has a hell of an IQ. The IQ of what I think that a big man should have, as you see with Jokic in Denver."
"This kid can pass a basketball, he can score... his passing ability is off the charts. I want the NBA to see that, but we have to first get him out of trouble first," he added. "Then we'll see what the NBA wants to do after that."
Payton is a man who has lived through the league's highest highs and lowest lows. As the engine of the '90s Seattle SuperSonics, he came closer than most to toppling Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls at the peak of their powers.
That kind of pedigree makes his words carry weight. While comparing Jontay to a three-time MVP might seem like a stretch to some, the numbers Porter is putting up in the USBL are hard to ignore.
The big man is currently tearing through the competition, leading the league with a staggering 20.0 rebounds per game while ranking second in assists with 7.8 per night. With his squad sitting at a perfect 12-0, GP clearly feels he has enough evidence to publicly advocate for the NBA to eventually rescind Porter's lifetime ban.
"I think he's staying out of trouble. He's doing things in the community that would help people understand that, 'Yeah, I made a mistake and I don't want other people to make mistakes.' I think when people get in trouble, they have to be real with it," Payton stressed.
Realistically, it's a scenario we're unlikely to see anytime soon. At the end of the day, we're talking about a player who, in his four years around the league, managed only 37 appearances, posting modest career averages of 3.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists on a lackluster 40.3 percent from the field.
Even at 26, should he ever be granted a second chance, it's hard to imagine him in a major role. His stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors showed a ceiling that doesn't quite reach the heights of his brother's.
But while the NBA dream is almost certainly a thing of the past, Porter can count himself lucky to still be playing professionally at all, even if it's at the significantly lower level he finds himself in now.
With a figure like Payton in his corner, the Missouri native has a unique opportunity to gain the perspective needed to learn from his mistakes. For now, his focus has to be on becoming the best version of himself in the one place that's still willing to give him a court to play on.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Apr 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
