Kevin Porter Rumors
All NBA Players For Porter, his game also has taken a turn for the better. Over Houston’s latest run, he’s averaging 17.8 points per game and dishing out 6.3 assists, all while adding a consistent outside shot (44 percent from 3). His game is looking more well-rounded, dynamic and dangerous. “Just simply, like, you learn from experience,” Porter told The Athletic. “So like, all the reps I’ve been getting … I’ve been able to adjust really fast. And with the opportunity I have, keep getting more and more reps and more used to it and the flow of the game. Me being a leader of this team has become easier and easier as we go.”
“Just knowing that’s what they want me to be,” Porter said. “A point guard, a floor general, a playmaker. Just to play my game is just knowing that being asked to do that is the big difference. So now, I just have a full burst of confidence that I can actually be capable of being what they want me to be and what I expected out of myself.”
There was one catch, however. Typically in NBA practices, there are specific teams, assigned groups made by the coaching staff, made to ensure a theme of consistency and organization. But that day, Silas didn’t pick the pairings. He let the players do that themselves. Green and Porter naturally found their way to each other. “I mean, for them, it’s always interesting for me to see who they pick,” Silas told The Athletic. “That is usually based on one of two things. It’s either based on their connection as friends, or they’re like, ‘This person can really help me.’ So seeing those kind of matchups and seeing those guys do that meant that there was some sort of connection, probably both with those two guys. They had that, like, this is my guy. But this is also someone who can help me as we’re going through these drills.”
Green clearly had NBA aspirations at that time, but there was nothing like seeing another young player like himself who had already made that jump to the next level. Porter wasn’t in the best of situations personally in Cleveland, but he was still able to give Green some solid advice of what he could expect when he eventually came over. “It was dope because he was just now getting into the scene,” Porter said. “And I was a fan before I even knew him. So he was a fan of me, I didn’t know until I met him, but you know, he pays respects to me and I pay respects to his game. “And that’s how our brotherhood started.”
The feelings were mutual. Not much is said about how influential the game of basketball is and the role it plays in creating meaningful relationships across the sport. “It was good,” Green said of the first interaction with Porter back in high school. “We’ve been bros off the rip. We automatically clicked, so it was easy.” “It was just a lot of questions, like, what’s the league like and stuff like that,” he added. “He was just giving me a guideline. Typical big bro, little bro stuff.”
With Green and Porter both being gifted athletes, there were ways to exploit teams in transition. Actions were put in place to have both players playing off each other. There were branch-off plays that involved Green and Porter getting the ball quickly at the elbows and wings to make the opposing defenses pick their poison. “I’m just making sure that they are both playing to their strengths,” Silas said. “So, that’s getting the ball up the floor quickly, playing off each other, because they’re both gonna have primary defenders. And then making sure that the way that we set it up is not just good for those two, it’s good for everybody else on the court.”
