Jontay Porter On His Journey To The NBA & Signing With The Toronto Raptors! All Inclusive Interview!

Jontay Porter On His Journey To The NBA & Signing With The Toronto Raptors! All Inclusive Interview!

What’s up everyone we’ve got a special guest for you today we’ve got Raptor’s very own jonte Porter jonte thank you so much for joining me on my channel here how are you doing today of course man thanks for having me I’m doing real well um just finished practice and ready for

A great little interview well absolutely once again I’m very excited to do this and we’re gonna jump right into the question so jonte obviously your journey to the NBA has been very unique do you want to go through some of the challenges and what really helped you you’ve spoken obviously about brother

Michael who’s really been um a key part of you getting back into you know basketball and just pushing through some of the injuries you’ve had um for those who may not be very familiar do you want to tell him your side of the story and how kind of he’s helped you along the

Way and how have you been able to push through that sure yeah uh I come from a big family there’s eight kids in our family um all from the same parents my parents homeschooled us as well they met through basketball my parents did and they’ve kind of groomed Us For Better or Worse

Into basketball players um so we’ve all had our own individual struggles and challenges throughout our careers all of us have played at D1 level and everything so we all know what it’s like to play um at a pretty high level and that creates a really unique sense of um

Security with your I guess support system I have a great support system not only my brother but the rest of my family my brother in particular Michael he uh plays for the Nuggets he’s my older brother by a year and a half and that’s who I would say I’m closest with

He’s kind of been there done that all the year and a half before I am there and do that so um my own personal challenges of injuries started I mean I’ve been pretty healthy my whole career until um after my freshman year of college I declared for the draft uh as

Well as my brother did we were in the same class and he decided to stick in I decided I was gonna go back to school try to raise my stock a little bit and work on some things that teams were giving me feedback on and yeah I was feeling really good had a

Great summer with missou and uh going into I think like two weeks before our first game we had an exhibition match against Southern Illinois and game like once we’re doing script stuff I uh you know blew out my knee and a move I’ve done a million times it’s

Kind of like a Euro Step and uh my knee kind of just collapsed inward felt everything tear in that moment super duper painful and more so painful was just the emotional damage with that um something that I’ve been doing with all my siblings with my whole family my

Whole life up to that point every single day pretty much just being taken away from me in that moment and something that I do routinely um it’s just a regular basketball move it wasn’t contact or anything it was just really devastating for me and I wasn’t sure how

I was going to move forward from that just because I wasn’t used like I said I was relatively healthy up until that point and uh having something like that is so important to me you know realize my dream of playing in the NBA in a year or so so was really

Really devastating it was kind of like a gut check where I had to realize or I had to kind of self-examine what was most important to me in life and not put all my stock in something that can be ripped away in that moment so as

Devastating as it was I think it was the most uh character development I’ve had in my life I had to grow up really quick quick I realized everything was always going to go according to plan a uh and with that there was restless nights there was times where I doubted my

Recovery process even though I was determined to get back on the court there’s times you want to quit is because rehab is just grueling um that’s where my brother played a huge part he had his own injuries going into the draft at the back surgeries he was went

From you know consensus number one pick in high school to being a dropping down toh 14 I believe from the Nuggets just because people are scared of injury history so yeah he was um awesome along the way just being encouraging even though he had gone through his surgeries

He was back to playing and he just kept reminding me how special I was how talented I was and wanted me to kind of use the gifts God has given me to get on that with him as well so um and that’s pretty much a long story short there’s

Other challenges that went along way I tore my knee again a few months into rehab and that was like a double so uh there’s lots of challenges along the way that kind of made me who I am today with another I had another surgery a few months into rehab that was really kind

Of like a double blow but long story short my support system um in my determination kind of gotten me back to this point years later playing in the NBA it’s just a dream come true and I’m not taking one moment for granted yeah no absolutely I was reading about um how

You’ve gone through some of your injuries and you know obviously Michael’s been a big part but also yourself to be able to push through some of that has been absolutely amazing and also I think inspiring right NBA people forget is one of the most difficult leagues to make it into and the fact

That you have is is truly amazing now let’s get on to some of the other questions where were you when the Raptors called you and you officially found out that you were getting signed to a two-e contract I was Lally packing my bag for this like six hour road road trip um

From Detroit to Chicago we had a g League game in Chicago and um yeah my wife she was running across the street to get me a smoothie from this place my place and so I got the call from my agent who’s based out of Chicago we were

Gonna be grabbing dinner that night and he was like sorry man not going be able to hang out really bummed about it but um I have other news and he let me kind of like dropped it that way so it was really awesome man um to see all my hard

Work kind of manifest itself into an opportunity and it was really cool to once my wife got back to be able to surprise her with that and yeah it definitely wasn’t expected I didn’t like it wasn’t a longterm process where my agent like hey Toronto’s really interested it just happened and um yeah

A month later here I am starting last night guess the Celtics it’s just like a dream come true man and um I’m loving every moment of it absolutely no I I remember when the Raptors announced their they signed you to a two-e contract I went and watched some of your

Highlights and I was looking at the skill set you have and it’s very unique for a big man you know obviously we’ve seen the NBA change kind of over the years and how centers are expected to space the floor a little bit more obviously you have that to your game but

There are other parts of your game that are very intriguing as well I found you’re a great passer you’re able to defend very well now I I I’ve got a question for you who have you is there a certain player you’ve modeled your game after if you kind of Taken bits and

Parts of different players you’ve kind of looked up to and kind of um modeled your game after them yeah I mean I think as I’ve grown up um I admire different players I was always a big LeBron guy like loved watching LeBron obviously I couldn’t have a different game from LeBron if I

Tried like everything about our games are different but with that came watching his teammates and I really grew to admire the Superstar role players that uh were on his side with Kevin Love Like You Know Outlet passes rebounding being able to stretch the floor originally I was a big Chris posh guy I

Got that comp a lot just because we were lefties which you know For Better or Worse that’s just how it is with people online but um Chris BOS elements of his game I really tried to take into mine and then recently just over the past few years just getting to watch Nicole yic

Up close I didn’t mention this earlier but part of my rehab process I lived out in Denver with my brother during his rookie in second year so getting to watch yic up close um it’s just different man and you know if I’m ever 1% of the player he is and I will be

Happy with you know my development but with that I just try to look at his game and see what little things I can model after my own whether it’s passing or um dribbling just like facilitating being the Hub of an offense I’m not sure what

My role will be or what it will turn into with the Raptors but um you know anything you can do like yic is probably a good thing to help your team get some wins and that’s somebody I’ve really admired over the past few years and probably going to continue to do so

Absolutely no it it shows like obviously you know you’re you’re yok just the MVP and it would be great if you’re able to get there but some of the skill sets are very similar in how you’re able to and like even some of the passes you make

Right like I see Raptors fans all the time talking about how you’re able to affect the games in so many different ways even if your shot isn’t falling or one thing isn’t going you’ve got three other factors going for you so um I’ve got another question for you the Raptors

Actually I found this as I was reading the article yesterday that they actually had talked to you way back when you were I believe close to the draft process they did contact you in 2019 yeah that was uh during the draft process both times I believe the first

Time when I went to the combine and ended up going back to missou as well as the next year when I was hurt but still went through the interview process I believe I talked to the rappers both times um and they were really interested then they kind of you know envisioned me

On their team and kind of walked me through that and who knows what would have happened if I declared for the draft of my freshman year and who knows what would have happened if I stayed healthy got drafted after my second year but um you know everything happens for a

Reason and I’m here now and I couldn’t be happier and hopefully um with more opportunity I’m able to impact winning on on a grand scheme of things both this year and moving forward absolutely there let’s end this interview off with a few fun questions here what is your favorite

Thing about Toronto so far it can’t be the weather I know that for sure I’m actually standing out here in Mr Saga and uh like right next to next door to square one which is like the most fantastic biggest small I’ve ever been around so everything you need is

Right here that’s probably the my favorite thing so far although I will say like even though I’ve been here almost 90% of it so any and all suggestions for cool things to do or cool things to see around here I’m all years hey I’m I’m from western Canada so

I’ve actually only been to Toronto once but it’s definitely a cool City to visit and um do you have a go-to spot I know again you said that you’ve only been here for a little while but do you have a go-to spot to go to

Yeah it’s uh funny so I drive a Tesla and meaning you have to charge your car pretty frequently the closest charger to us is by this shareway mall which is about 15 minutes away and uh there’s a restaurant called Joey Joey shareway and that’s a my wife from Seattle Washington and

That was our favorite restaurant there and luckily they have one here so it’s a little slice of home that we go to pretty frequently whenever we need to charge the car we’ll just grab a bite to eat at Joy’s and really good food really good vibes and definitely my go-to spot

Oh that’s well that’s amazing to hear I’m sure a lot of raptors fans will say that in the comment section as well um just one last question before we end the video here obviously you’ve traveled to different cities do you have a favorite city in North America that you like to

Play in a specific Arena or specific NBA team obviously your brother does play for the Denver Nuggets as well I’m sure that’s very fun for you when you guys faced off when you were with Memphis but is there a specific City or team that you really look forward to

Playing um yeah I guess team obviously that’s the textbook answer is my brother’s team getting to play with him doing Jersey exchanges all that is always so much fun and that was our Dream growing up hopefully one day we can team up but um in terms of City I

Think La was awesome getting to play with the Raptors on this last road trip being in La for a few days whether you can’t beat historic Arena even though they changed the name to crypto.com Arena or whatever but yeah man the The Vibes are always awesome I told you I

Was a big LeBron guy growing up so getting to face off against him and other people just you know it feels like every day I’ve been here with the Raptors has been something new something new that’s eye opening and just a lifelong dream is kind of being realized

And it’s it’s been really special and I’m not taking a day for granted so with that every team I go to play with is a cool opportunity and I’m just soaking it all in absolutely I imagine it must be a great opportunity and jont I couldn’t be

Happier for a nicer person and a more humble human being for you I kind of followed how you were performing in the G league and I was telling everyone I said you know watch out for jonte he should absolutely be on the Raptors and your skill sets is just amazing that

You’re able to do so many different things so jonty I want to thank you one more time for doing this interview it’s really nice of you to come on this channel and do this for me um any last words before we depart here no man I really appreciate it thank you for being

Kind of a day one fan since I signed here at the Raptors and hopefully we can meet up and do something soon in person go absolutely all right that’s it guys jont thank you once again for doing this that will be it for today’s video guys

So thank you so much for watching you guys have a great day take care

I interview Jontay Porter who recently signed with the Toronto Raptors. We discuss many topics including what motivated Jontay to continue his Journey to the NBA and how he fought through various injuries. We also added some fun questions and discussed his reaction to signing a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors.