Transition to Chicago has liberated Otto Porter's game, hitting the right notes with the Bulls after

June 23, 2024

CHICAGO — When his three-point shot dropped, Otto Porter Jr. went into his ritual of raising three fingers before running back on defense but something strange immediately blared from the United Center sound system: Lionel Richie’s hit from the 1980s, “All Night Long.” Porter didn’t have time to react in any way except with laughter, because a thing that never really became a thing in Washington has suddenly become a thing only a few weeks into his stint with the Chicago Bulls.

Wizards fans made subtle references on social media to Porter’s resemblance to the legendary songwriter and multiple Grammy-award-winning singer whose greatest hits came well before his basketball doppelgänger was born. But in Chicago, where the honeymoon period with the newcomer is underway, Porter can’t escape the comparisons or the playful serenades from the Bulls’ animated and excitable color commentator, Stacey King, whenever he connects from long distance.

“That’s hilarious,” Porter said. “But I mean, I don’t see it. I don’t see it, to be honest with you.”

King has developed some memorable catchphrases in his dozen-plus years calling games for the Bulls, coining, “too big, too strong, too fast, too good” for Derrick Rose and “Jimmy G. Buckets. And the G stands for Gets” for Jimmy Butler, among others. With Porter, King needed only to look at the newcomer, who arrived in a stunning trade-deadline deal, to come up with a signature call, or rather, carol. When Porter scored a career-high 37 points in just his fourth game in Chicago, the connection — the crooning — was unavoidable.

“When you come out knocking down threes like that, it’s all night long,” King said. “If you ever follow me, I’m one of those people, it’s off the top of the head. Everything just flows. I don’t sit at home in the mirror, thinking things up. It’s very instinctive. I’m very quick-witted. I was like that as a player and I’m that way as a broadcaster and it just fit the moment.”

Before continuing with the reference in his broadcasts, King asked Porter if he was OK with him having fun with the resemblance and Porter conceded that his mother, Elnora, acknowledges the likeness. “If his mom is saying it, I know I’m not wrong then,” King said with a laugh. “He looks just like him.”

Otto Porter’s mother may be on to something. Musical legend Lionel Richie and the Bulls player have a strong resemblance to each other.

Porter said his mother even texted him an image recently of him two side-by-side with Richie. “I was like, ‘Mom, get out of here. I don’t want to hear that,’” Porter said with a laugh. “I might have thrown my hair in corn rows or something, because if I blow it out into a ‘fro…? People will really start getting on to me.”

Although he can’t change what folks see in him physically, Porter would like to use his new opportunity with the Bulls to change some of the misconceptions about his game that hounded him in nearly six seasons with the Wizards. Porter has always been more than what he revealed on the surface, choosing to contain his passion with limited outward displays and to unveil his dedication to his work through the results. He’s a true native of the Show Me State, short on words and wasted histrionics.

“He’s never been outspoken,” Porter’s father, Otto Sr. said in a telephone interview. “I’ve always told him, you play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, it’ll speak for him.”

Chicago wants to give Porter the chance to show what he can be, as a leader and a player who doesn’t want his game to be marginalized into one specialty. And, as he begins the unexpected but mandatory second act with the Bulls, Richie’s music might provide the best soundtrack.

“Hello. Is it me you’re looking for?” — Hello, 1984

Once he got over the initial shock that he was moving on from the only NBA team he’d known, in the only city he’d known since he left home for college, Porter came to accept what playing for the Bulls meant. He was closer to his hometown in tiny Sikeston, Mo. — which meant a five-to-six-hour drive from family and friends in a close-knit community that helped him buck the AAU system to become a pro. And he was joining one of the league’s youngest teams, a rebuilding outfit that could use a veteran player with nearly as many more playoff games played as the rest of the combined roster (31-34).

“He has stuff he can hang his hat on, that he’s already done in the league and stuff that he can grow with and improve with us. And we want that for him. It’s a great situation,” Bulls Coach Jim Boylen said. “We’ve just got to keep him healthy.”

In his first meeting with Bulls Vice President John Paxson and General Manager Gar Forman, Porter was informed that the organization was looking for him to be one of the team’s leaders, a platform that wasn’t available on a Wizards team often loaded with seasoned veterans and louder voices. Porter will again be the valued role player he always has been, only with a more prominent role.

He needed to get out of Washington. It was a blessing in disguise for him. He needed to move on, because his career wasn’t going anywhere there. — Otto Porter, Sr.

“They said, ‘We want a bunch of high character guys to play for one another.’ It’s really rebuilding a culture here and they brought me here to be a part of that,” Porter said. “Of course, that just comes with experience. Coming from a situation where I can pass on things that I know, from experience, being with the Wizards, here. Because I’ve played in playoff games, played in playoff series and ultimately, that’s where we want to see ourselves — playing in the playoffs, being a top team in the East and making some noise. We’ve got a lot of good pieces, young pieces that they’re developing and that’s important for our future.

“What I can bring to the table is a winner. Every night I step on the floor, I want to win.”

With the Wizards’ all-star backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal assuming and demanding most of the responsibilities that come from being franchise building blocks, Porter had the appropriate, easy-going personality to blend without causing a disruption within an already uneasy alliance. John Thompson Jr., father of Porter’s coach at Georgetown, John Thompson III, referred to him as a notch below low-maintenance, as in “no-maintenance.”

But as the years went by, Porter’s teammates and coaches took that willingness to get in where he fit in for granted. And this season, he went from being neglected to being blamed for the Wizards’ woeful start, with Coach Scott Brooks — in a rare moment — publicly calling him out for failing to hustle after just the second game of the season. Porter refrained from responding, understanding that he had nothing the gain by dousing gasoline on a flame that would only singe the hairs on his chin.

A few weeks later, Porter had a game with 29 points on 12-of-15 shots. On any other team, on a night that efficient, Porter likely would’ve been force-fed at least 20 attempts to see how high he could go. The situation never really improved, especially after a meeting intended to improve the relationship between the two, according to multiple sources, concluded with Brooks telling Porter, “Do your job.”

Porter tried, accepting without complaint a reserve role after the team found a rhythm while he was out early on with injury. Brooks eventually put him back into the starting lineup and Porter assumed his future in Washington was secure. He had been informed privately what Wizards owner Ted Leonsis stated publicly that, under no uncertain terms, he wouldn’t be traded before the Feb. 7 deadline. Then, after Wall’s season-ending Achilles’ injury put the entire direction of the franchise in question, Porter was moved in what could amount to a salary dump for Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis.

“Being traded, it was a business move. Nothing personal at the end of the day,” Porter said. “This is an opportunity where I can grow as a player. That’s how I saw it. I had to deal with the shock for sure. All the phone calls, messages and all that crap. It was crazy. But then once the air settled down and I went for my first game, watching film, watching how they play and how I can be effective.”

“Why in the world would anybody put chains on me? I’ve paid my dues to make it. Everybody wants me to be what they want me to be. I’m not happy when I try to fake it.” — Easy, 1977, Commodores

Aside from a knock down shooter who can play both forward positions, Boylen didn’t know all that he was getting when the team acquired Porter. The trade came together quickly, and not with the usual days or weeks of prep time. Plus, he could only judge Porter based on what he could be in Washington. Boylen, a mid-season replacement for the dismissed Fred Hoiberg, has quickly learned that there is more there with Porter.

“I didn’t know he was that good of a pick and roll player when we got him, I have to admit. I did not realize that. He’s dynamic in pick and roll.” Boylen said. “If there’s the challenge for me, it’s making Otto more of a creator than a receiver, because he can do that. I didn’t know the extent he could do that until we got him. He has a thing where you throw him back in the game and it’s like a calming of the waves. He gets a gap steal. He makes the right entry into the post. He runs the split game and throws the pocket pass. He just has a poise about him and a pace that is calming. That’s the biggest compliment that I can give him. And he lets me coach him.”

“We talk every day and watch film every day. He’s coaching me, telling me, I think you can do this and do that.” Porter said of Boylen. “And I’m like, ‘Whatever you need me to do, I can do. And if I’m not good at it, I can become good at it.’”

Porter has been saddled with a one-dimensional reputation for being one of the league’s best three-point shooters, a label that he finds somewhat amusing because it almost diminishes the work that he put in to become one.

“He was raised to understand that whatever you put in it, that’s the product that’s going to come out of it,” Porter Sr. said, “and the more he works at it, the time he spends developing his game, sooner or later it’s going to come to the top. And he’s got that down to earth mentality, that I’m going to put in the work.

“You take all the great ball players, their games weren’t tied down to being stereotyped to one thing,” he continued. “He can do multiple things and do them at a high level. Not only can he shoot, he can pass the ball, he can handle the ball. You can catch a guy with a lot of athleticism and can do a lot of things, but if you take a fundamental player that knows what should happen and knows how to take advantage of it, that’s going to be the difference between a guy winning and a guy losing.”

During his rookie year, Porter dealt with a hip injury and got spot duty behind Trevor Ariza, whose ability to space the floor and defend provided the blueprint for what would be expected of him. He found himself in the 2015 playoffs, providing stellar defense on DeMar DeRozan, and continued to improve until his breakout campaign in 2016-17. Porter was astute enough to recognize what he needed to do to be a reliable contributor on a team that never showcased him: He had to be efficient and make the most of his shot attempts to ensure more touches. Otherwise, he’d be stuck “in the fucking corner,” as one close observer acknowledged.

But as the Wizards sputtered and stagnated the past two seasons, Porter’s career appeared to stall as well. He wanted more, much like the team wanted more from him, but neither party could figure out how to make that happen.

“He needed to get out of Washington. It was a blessing in disguise for him,” Porter Sr. said of the trade. “He needed to move on, because his career wasn’t going anywhere there. It had been my feeling all along that he was going to have to break away from Washington at some point. Because it was limiting there. Circumstances weren’t ideal for him because he didn’t get to show what he’s capable of doing. And then I think a lot of it is, they just, in my opinion, did not use him the way they should have. He’s going to get the opportunity now.”

“I may be just a foolish dreamer. But I don’t care, ‘cause I know my happiness is waiting out there somewhere.” – Zoom, 1977, Commodores

After the Wizards matched the four-year, $106 million offer sheet he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2017, Porter bought a home in Virginia up the street from John Thompson III, expecting to put down roots. The trade won’t end Porter’s relationship with the city that watched him mature into a man. Porter said he plans to maintain the residence in one of the two places he lived his first 25 years.

“I still consider D.C. my second home. Because that’s where I grew up. That’s where I saw the world as it is. And learned a lot, experienced a lot, been through a lot there,” said Porter, who leased an apartment in Chicago off Michigan Avenue for the rest of the season. “It keeps me calm. That feeling of being secure, at home. It’s my home away from home. My college is still there, if I wanted to see familiar faces to calm me down, I could just pop in on Coach Pat Ewing. I could just pop up, see my old professors. Old friends. Just something that brings me back to earth.”

In Chicago, Porter is being asked to be a stabilizer in the locker room and on the court. Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen are being looked upon as the young, foundational pieces for the future, but Boylen intends to let Porter have some influence and broaden his game in an equal-opportunity offense.

“He gives me what I call ‘the amens.’ You know when you’re in church and the pastor says something. He does that for me,” Boylen said. “He’ll do the head nod and say, ‘We’ve got to do that better.’ Or yeah, ‘That’s my fault on that.’ He co-signs or talks over the film in a positive, coachable way. That is so empowering to me, but also to him as a leader of the team.

“He has a kindness about him. He reminds me a lot of Tim Duncan a little bit, as far as a poise and a kindness, but also a determination,” said Boylen, who spent two years as an assistant with Duncan in San Antonio. “You don’t have to be prick to be a good player. You don’t have to be an asshole to be a good player who plays hard and cares. If you are, you are, you don’t have to be. Tim Duncan was so kind, but very competitive and O.P. is very kind but very competitive.”

Porter is producing at what would be a career-high clip with the Bulls, averaging nearly five more points per game that he did in Washington this season. He has already recorded as many 30-point games in Chicago as he had his entire career Washington (two). He has also doubled his career number of games with at least 20 field goal attempts (he arrived with one). The notion that he’s playing with more confidence makes Porter bristle some, because that would imply that he’d lost it.

Otto Porter knew he played with strong personalities in guards John Wall and Bradley Beal but could not get out of their shadows. (By Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

“It’s a new opportunity for me to showcase my talent. What I know I can do. And just go out there and have fun playing,” Porter said. “I think at some point, a lot of people lose sight of what they can do, but for me, it’s kind of refreshing. It’s a new start for me and I just want to continue to learn what I can and do what I can to help the team.

“Obviously, you had some great players in John Wall and Bradley Beal, who was our backcourt, our guards and they made a lot of plays for us in Washington. They were the head of the snake. They were our leaders. Here, it’s like, OK, we can be a three-headed snake.”

When asked if he felt that the Bulls would empower him to be more assertive than he was in Washington, Porter replied, “Given the opportunity, yeah.”

And before a follow-up question could be asked, Porter said, “That’s self-explanatory.”

“Well, my friends, the time has come. Raise the roof and have some fun.” — All Night Long, 1983

Porter, however, isn’t ready — and perhaps never will want — to look back on how things ended in Washington. To him, nothing productive can come from complaining or venting about the past, with emotions still raw and when his primary duty is how help push the Bulls organization Michael Jordan elevated to NBA royalty back to relevance. Every time he lifts weights at the Bulls practice facility, or is introduced to the home crowd, those six championship banners hang as a reminder of where Chicago hopes to return. “That just gives me motivation,” Porter said.

Though Memphis is the closest NBA city to where he grew up, Porter considered himself more of a Bulls fan. “I watched a lot of Bulls, especially after Derrick Rose got drafted here. I was really tuned in,” Porter said. “And just the history and the tradition of this team, it means more than just the name on the back of your jersey. You’re actually playing for a tradition, a lot of history from the front of your jersey and it means a lot.”

Eager to end the regular season in Chicago on a high note, Porter said he plans to spend the offseason focused on the kind of skill development that he was denied last summer, when he was recovering from surgery on left leg contusion that ended his season during the Wizards’ first-round exit against Toronto. “I know if I can come back from that and still have time to get back right and get ready for the season, then the offseason this year is going to be even better,” he said.

The trade knocked Porter down a notch in the standings, guaranteeing that he’ll miss the playoffs for the second time in his career. But he also joined an organization that has more hope for the future, with a high lottery pick heading its way and the exciting potential of 2018 lottery pick Wendell Carter sidelined with injury. Porter is already speaking up in film sessions and on game days, with the knowledge that the habits of a successful team are developed during the most challenging times.

“The future is bright for us,” Porter said. “The future is very bright with the way the guys are, everybody wants to get better. Everybody is buying into what this organization is trying to do and that’s get back to the top. And get back in the playoffs and get back to being a contender every year. Since we’re such a young group, we’re going to continue to grow and grow together and eventually, we’re going to be there. I feel like it’s a process that we’re going to have to go through.”

And now, another thing that didn’t become a thing in Washington has a chance to become a thing in Chicago. Let the music play on.

(Top photo of Otto Porter. By David Banks/USA TODAY Sports)

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