NBA player Michael Porter Jr. has never held back on his comments about WNBA players and his opinions regarding the talent discrepancy between men and women players. The outspoken Brooklyn Nets player, who admits that women are his addiction, made some recent comments that most women basketball fans would probably find insulting.
Brooklyn Nets Star Michael Porter Jr. Insults WNBA Players
During his November 18 appearance on the Ball in the Family Podcast with Lonzo & Gelo Ball, “The Most Outspoken Man in the NBA”, said that an 8th grade boys high school squad would beat a team of WNBA All-Stars, and he wasn’t just talking off the cuff.
“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,” Porter said.
WNBA player Sophie Cunningham and Michael Porter are friends, and his sisters played ball with her at Missouri. The Indiana Fever veteran has been spotted in photos, and she recently posed for pics with Porter following a Brooklyn Nets game. Porter explains how he used to give the women’s team buckets as an 8th grader practicing with the squad.
MPJ: “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.”
Lonzo Ball Says 9th Grade Version Of Himself Would Dominate WNBA
Lonzo Ball initiated the conversation by saying that a 9th grade Zo would go crazy in the WNBA. Michael Porter Jr. agreed, and it wasn’t the first time he heard such banter. “You know what’s crazy? Pat Bev said that a WNBA team could beat the bench players of an NBA team,” Porter recalled.
RELATED: Pat Beverley Says A’ja Wilson’s WNBA Las Vegas Aces Would “Put Belt” To Team Of NBA Bench Players
Lonzo Ball: “I’m going to give you the most honest answer, right now. I know MPJ feels the same way. I don’t know if he said this or not but I’m going to speak my peace. I mean this as respectfully as possible but 9th grade Lonzo Ball in the WNBA is going crazy! So, I would say after 9th grade no. Before that, look, in 9th grade I was over six feet and I’m dunking. I’m coming through the lane. No girl in the WNBA is doing that. I’m going back door, throw it up. I’m looking like Jordan out there. I’m just going to say and I mean this respectfully, middle school down I give it to the WNBA.”
WNBA Celebrity Sophie Cunningham Says Michael Porter Jr. Is Right
Speaking of Sophie Cunningham, she chimed in on the different opinions Porter received for his latest comments on her “Show Me Something” podcast with high school friend and reality star West Wilson.
Cunningham said, “This is my personal opinion. But if you are a professional football player, basketball player, really any sport… If you’re in that elite level group, yeah, you should be able to beat the girls. I’m not surprised by that. I just don’t get why it’s continuing to get brought up.
“If women are saying, ‘He couldn’t beat them,’ yeah, he could. Any NBA star could beat a female in high school,” Cunningham added.
Cunningham wasn’t offended by Porter saying 8th grade boys could beat WNBA players.
“The context of it is fair,” Cunningham added. “If [the 8th graders] are future pros, it just depends how big they are. And the majority of the time, if they’re going pro, unless you’re a late bloomer, you’re already pretty big.
“So I would say that that’s probably true. It’s probably true! I don’t want to be unrealistic or delusional. Like, men are just stronger, bigger, athletic. They just are a different build. So if you put them up against females, yeah, they’re gonna win,” she added of Porter Jr.’s 8th-grade stance. “I just don’t think that’s a fair matchup.”
This Isn’t First Time Michael Porter Jr. Sneak Dissed WNBA Players
Michael Porter Jr. has been in hot water for comments he made about the WNBA in the past.
One example came during the 2023 NBA Champion’s appearance on a January 2024 episode of “The Pivot Podcast,” where he said, “I know these females [WNBA players] want to get paid more, and they’re very talented. But so is a famous ping-pong player. Like, the best ping pong player is just as talented as the best NBA player. That doesn’t mean that they’re going to get paid the same, because it’s what the people wanna watch.
“As much as I understand females wanting the same treatment as men basketball players, it’s a different sport,” Porter continued. “They’re not packing out the arenas, obviously, their TV deals aren’t the same. So as much as I advocate for women and kind of the equality of the respect of their craft, and all those things, I mean, you can’t pay them the same thing. But I do feel like there should be a little way to make a little bit more money because they are very talented.”
Michael Porter Jr. Suggests WNBA All-Stars Would Lose to McDonald’s All-Americans
Porter took another shot at the WNBA while appearing on an August 29 stream of popular streamer plaqueboymax. Porter made another claim about how the WNBA’s talent compares to the men of the NBA.
“If the WNBA All-Star team, if the Olympic team played the McDonald’s All-American high school players, it’s one of them things, bro. You can’t dance around it,” Porter said. “In high school, when I was in high school, we were grown men, pretty much… If we play the WNBA All-Star team, that, no disrespect, bro. No disrespect, bro. I’m not even gonna say it.”
Cunningham co-signed her boy at the expense of other women hoopers, but she does wish he would shut up about it.
