In economic terms, Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. simply prioritizes non-market labor over earnings potential.
Or, as the 27-year-old put it on the ‘One Night with Steiny’ podcast, he’d rather have a domestic wife that brings ‘something to the table.’
‘I don’t mind providing for you, I don’t mind doing that,’ said Porter, who has $115 million in career earnings. ‘You can stay at the crib, you can do your thing. You gotta bring something to the table.
‘Positivity, you gotta help me mentally, you gotta be able to cook or something,’ he continued. ‘You gotta bring something to the table… look, what value are you bringing to my life? That’s the way I look at it now.’
Pointing to his own mother, who homeschooled Porter and his seven siblings, the former NBA champion doubled down on his statement.
‘In a wifey, I don’t mind if she’s a stay-at-home mom,’ he said. ‘My mom was a stay-at-home mom but she raised all eight of us kids, she homeschooled us, she cooked for us when my dad was out working, she raised us.
Porter is headed to Brooklyn after six successful seasons with the Denver Nuggets
Actress Madison Pettis and Porter attend the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards in LA
‘You gotta be able to do something. These girls nowadays it’s like they just want to live like queens and do absolutely nothing.’
Porter’s love life isn’t exactly an open book. As a teenager he dated actress Madison Petit in 2016 and 2017 as well as influencer Kelsey Calemine sometime after that, according to multiple reports.
The former Missouri star was traded along with a future first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets to the Nets last month. Porter had played six seasons with the Nuggets, winning an NBA title in 2022-23.
He now has two years and $79 million remaining on his current deal.
Porter’s family has faced several recent controversies. In April of 2024, for instance, his younger brother Cuban was sentenced to six years in prison for killing a woman while driving drunk. Another brother, Jevon, also arrested on suspicion of DWI that same month.
Porter’s younger brother Jontay also reached the NBA, only to be given a lifetime suspension by the league over gambling allegations.
‘Obviously, my brother went through his situation,’ Porter said on the podcast before referencing some other gambling scandals around the league. ‘Malik Beasley’s going through a situation right now. Terry Rozier was in some hot water.
‘But the whole sports gambling entity, it’s bad and it’s only gonna get worse.’
