After missing the majority of two consecutive seasons with injuries, some wondered if Denver Nuggets forward
Michael Porter Jr. would ever return to form after authoring the most dominant senior season high school basketball has seen since LeBron James in 2002-03.
In Denver's last three contests, Porter has been on a tear. He recorded a career high 37 points to go along with 12 rebounds Monday in a 121-113 win over Oklahoma City. Two days later, he piled up 30 points and 15 rebounds in a win over the Spurs.
Last night in a loss against the Blazers, the 22-year old did his part with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Porter's performances to start the week put him in the record books, becoming the first rookie in Nuggets history with 30 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games. He also recorded the most points by a Nuggets rookie over a two-game span with 67.
The Missouri native is the first rookie in NBA history with 30 points, 15 rebounds and five made threes in a game.
For those who have followed his career since high school, the numbers don't come as a huge surprise.
Michael Porter Jr. rises for a jump shot during his remarkable senior season at Nathan Hale in Seattle.
Photo by: Vince Miller
During his senior season at
Nathan Hale (Seattle), Porter averaged 37 points and 14.3 rebounds per game, leading the school to an undefeated national championship season.
Porter earned MaxPreps National Player of the Year, taking a team that was 3-18 the previous season to unfathomable heights with wins over perennial national powers Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) among others.
He also captured McDonald's All-American Game MVP honors, recording 17 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
Former NBA and University of Washington star Brandon Roy, Porter's coach at Nathan Hale, even
made the LeBron comparison back in January of 2017.
But injuries while at the University of Missouri began to unravel sky high expectations. Concerns over his back were so prevalent, he went from a potential No. 1 overall coming out of high school to No. 14 in the 2018 NBA Draft.
