David Adelman on Michael Porter Jr. leaving Nuggets' bench: 'A non-aggressive walk'

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on Apr 28, 2025

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DENVER — If you want to know what the Nuggets think about Michael Porter Jr.’s brief excursion from their bench during a Game 4 altercation, simply refer to David Adelman’s description of it.

“I thought Mike made a non-aggressive walk,” the interim coach said Monday.

Porter is technically subject to a one-game suspension after violating NBA rules Saturday, when he roamed from Denver’s bench onto the court during Game 4 of a first-round playoff series. But Porter was quickly corralled by assistant coaches and shepherded back to the sideline before he got close to the action — a shoving match between the Nuggets and Clippers.

The Nuggets had not heard from the league about Porter’s involvement in the incident as of early Monday afternoon, multiple sources told The Denver Post. Game 5 is Tuesday (8 p.m. MT) at Ball Arena.

“I didn’t see anything dangerous about any of that, and you’ve got guys slapping each other out there,” Adelman said. “I’m sorry, but I mean, growing up, some of the fights I saw (in the NBA) scar you for life. So that was just a disagreement between a bunch of guys that probably are gonna play in the summer together in L.A.

“So you can say whatever you want about it. I know it’s cool, it’s exciting, but I didn’t think anything about that, Michael, all that stuff. There was no danger there. That was just a little thing.”

The rulebook language states that “all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench,” leaving the definition of “immediate vicinity” somewhat vague.

Porter scored 17 points in Game 4 while playing through a sprained left shoulder. He apologized after the win for leaving the bench and emphasized that he “didn’t make it very far.”