Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. reflected on his history against the Los Angeles Lakers, making a bold statement about his past performances.
During an appearance on the Glory Daze Podcast, Porter Jr said, “Lakers fans always thought they could beat us, but they never did. I always had a good series against the Lakers. I don’t know what it was, but I always cooked the Lakers.”
Porter Jr. spent the first six years of his career with the Denver Nuggets before being traded to Brooklyn in the summer of 2025. His comments came shortly after finishing his first regular season with averages of 18.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.4 percent from the field.
The 6-foot-10 forward has faced the Lakers multiple times in high-stakes matchups, most notably in the 2020 Western Conference Finals and the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Denver won both series, eliminating Los Angeles on their way to deeper playoff runs.
In the 2020 postseason, Porter Jr. contributed 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, including key scoring bursts off the bench. By 2023, he had established himself as a starter and averaged 13.4 points and 8.1 rebounds during Denver’s championship run, again helping dispatch the Lakers.
Porter Jr.’s most efficient series against Los Angeles came in 2024, when he averaged 15.8 points on 46.6 percent shooting across 12 playoff games. His outside shooting and size created consistent problems for the Lakers’ defense.
Although his 2025 playoff production dipped to 9.1 points per game, his career numbers against Los Angeles remain stronger than his overall postseason averages.
