Growing Up: Craig Porter Jr.

I grew up as … the youngest of five – all boys, all athletic. 

We’re all really close together in age … with me being the youngest and my oldest brother is around 30 or 31. So we’re all like 30, 28, 27, 26 and 25. 

Craig Porter Jr. doesn’t play the game like your average guard. 

Listed at just 6-1, 180, Porter has never been afraid to mix it up. In his final season at Wichita State, the Indiana native led the Shockers in just about everything – becoming the first player in program history to lead the team in rebounding, assists, blocks, and steals in the same season. 

And as a pure point guard, his shot-blocking numbers were mind-boggling. As a senior, he was the only player in the NCAA’s top 100 in both assists-per-game and blocks-per-game. He blocked a shot in 11 straight games, longest streak by a Wichita State guard since the school began recording game-by-game stats and his blocked shot average (1.48bpg) was the highest nationally for any player 6-2 or shorter.

After going undrafted in 2020, Porter signed with Cleveland as a free agent – parlaying a strong Summer League session as a rookie into a contract with the Cavs. As a rookie, he logged 51 productive outings, and he appeared in 51 game last season, posting solid numbers despite playing behind arguably the best starting backcourt in the league. 

This year – after working himself into what Kenny Atkinson called “elite shape” in the offseason – his numbers are up across the board this year. 

With Darius Garland sidelined again after injuring his toe last week in Miami, Porter’s been even better of late – netting double-figure scoring in three of his last five games, averaging 10.4ppg on 62 percent shooting from the floor, 64 percent from beyond the arc. 

And, of course, he’s swatted some shots in the process, posting three outings this season with multiple blocks – including a recent win on South Beach in which the 3^rd-year man became the first Cavalier in team history (and second in NBA history) to finish with at least 19 points, nine assists, four blocks and three steals off the bench. 

In today’s installment of Growing Up …, Craig Porter Jr. explains how, despite his slight frame, he turned out to be the rugged guard that’s now playing the best ball of his young career.  

The competition back then was … pretty fierce, but I was always the shortest and the skinniest and smallest, so I was always getting picked on or beat up. I actually feel like that just made everything later in life a lot easier. It made me understand and see where the fight, the grit and the competitiveness come from. 

I always wanted to … to be better than my brothers, but just having all of them before me gave me an example of what to do -- and not do. 

The other sport I loved growing up … was football. What’s really crazy is that I liked football more than basketball. Obviously, I played both, but I just loved football. I liked hitting people. 

I would just dive … at people with my head – and I loved it. I was a cornerback, and I was always in the right place. In middle school, the running backs always wanted to run outside, so that was perfect for me to just go and hit them.

I think I realized … that I could take basketball to the next level in high school. I always knew I was pretty good at sports, but I feel like the reality kind of set in around the middle of high school. I hit a growth spurt, and everything just started feeling a lot simpler. And then year-by-year after my senior year in high school, everything just climbed to another level. 

Growing up, my older brothers … were good in their sports, but they were mostly role players. But I was able to see what they might have done right and what they may have done wrong. And they would give me feedback and tell me little things like what a coach might like you to do. I was able to pick up a lot from them. 

That continues … to this day. Every game I get a text from at least a brother or two. They’ll be like: ‘Hey, watch this game back. You need to watch what you did wrong on this play.’ And I'm like: ‘I might not have done something wrong on that play.’ It’s funny. But that criticism actually helps me lot. 

Basketball is … a way of life in Indiana. My dad tells me stories about me as a kid that I don’t even remember – that it would be freezing cold and raining outside and all he’d hear is that ball dribbling.

Yes, I definitely remember … my first dunk. I mean, I didn’t dunk until I was about 17. But I didn’t really have my growth spurt until about 16. At the start of my sophomore year of high school, I was about 5-2. And towards the end my junior year, I was about 6-1. And that’s when I started trying to dunk. 

But my first dunk … was definitely in practice. One of my teammates literally just lofted the ball right in front of the rim as close as you can get, and I just went up and did it. And then I tried every day after that. But that first one was pretty weak. I think I actually have it on video, but I don't know if I can show it. It was so weak, it might actually be considered a layup.