Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said that the organization talked to Michael Porter Jr. before the start of the season about his podcasting career and controversial remarks about women’s sports. Looks like that talk did not mean anything as the forward as back at it.
MPJ did not re-open his own podcast. Instead, he sat down with the Ball family together with Lonzo and LiAngelo and there, he talked about his basketball life. He also mentioned that he has been advised by the Nets management about staying away from certain topics.
Women’s basketball is probably not among those topics.
The three talked about the WNBA and although he made a good point in the first part, the next one is somehow condescending.
“I’m probably going with 8th grade because I have real experience doing this. I played my sisters. They played at The University of Missouri and I was still a young kid,” he said in the Ball is Life podcast.
“They had me playing on the scout team and they had a few WNBA players on their team like, Sophie Cunningham and a couple others. I was in the 7th or 8th grade going crazy. So, I have real life experience. It’s just a difference and I wish this would stop being a conversation because it should be common sense. I appreciate common sense. I feel sometimes that’s lost a little bit.”
This topic came as a reaction to a claim made by Patrick Beverley from before when he said that a WNBA team can beat the bench guys of an NBA squad. He must have struck a nerve on Porter Jr. since the Nets are among the worst teams in the league.
Michael Porter Jr.’s 8th grade highlights
The statements garnered a wide range of reactions. Some thought it was another misogynistic claim.
Others thought it is factual and they came out with a video highlight of MPJ when he was in eighth grade to drive his point. It was a video of him playing for Tolton High School. It now has around five million views in less than 24 hours of posting.
People tryna clown MPJ meanwhile this was him in 8th grade💀pic.twitter.com/MtiBaYjDdU https://t.co/1HCsqW1dMM
— BarnesMuse🦉 (@MuseBarnes) November 19, 2025
This prompted people to look back at the hype behind MPJ’s name before he was bothered by injuries pre-draft.
Consensus #1 pick before the back injury these people have no idea 😂😂
— Bank Sinatra (@BankSinatraNBA) November 19, 2025
Young mpj was my favorite baller back then 😂😂 he was too nice ppl forget he was projected to be a number 1 pick b4 injuries
— Cloudy ☁️ (@CloudyNextDoor) November 19, 2025
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