Where Are They Now: Chris Porter
When it came down to providing college basketball highlights, Chris Porter basically owned SportsCenter from 1998-2000. With his signature ‘fro and freakish athleticism, the All-American from Auburn dazzled crowds around the SEC with his arsenal of dunks. Along with point guard Doc Robinson, Auburn was one of the most electric teams in the entire country.
During his junior year with the Tigers, Porter was named the SEC Player of The Year and was a second team All-American. He graced the cover of Sports Illustrated prior to his senior year. He was drafted in the second round of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. After a decent rookie campaign, where he averaged 8.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, Porter was traded in the offseason to the Hornets. The 6-7 forward was immediately waived after an off-court incident (drug-related charges) along with some discipline issues (missing planes and practices). He never played in the NBA again.
Being an undersized power forward was also a reason why Porter never made it back to the league. Since his year-long stint with the Warriors, Porter has played professionally in the CBA, Italy, USBL, ABA, Portugal, the Philippines and now China.
“All things happen for a reason. You just have to do what you think is best for you,” Porter told Hoopshype.com in 2003. “I’m just happy and grateful for being able to live doing what I love to do – play basketball. It doesn’t matter if it’s here, in the CBA, in the NBA…wherever.”
Last season, Chris suited up for the Fujian SBS XunXin of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He averaged an impressive 26.1 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals while shooting 37.7 percent from the three point line. The CBA also boasts a lot of former NBA players and NCAA stars like David Harrison, Peter John Ramos, Smush Parker, Will Conroy, Soumaila Samake, Corsley Edwards, Kirk Snyder and Jelani McCoy.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DIMEMag.
Follow Gerald Narciso on Twitter at @Gerald_Narciso.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE
November 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Guitar Hero says:
He played for Oliveirense here in Portugal, and made the All-Star team. Not a great accomplishmente, but hey…better than a kick in the ass.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:24 am
The Real Tyrone says:
Who b dis cat?
True thugs NEVER lie.
The Real Tyrone
November 4th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Krayzie says:
^
Another reason the real tyrone isn’t REAL….tru ball heads know about this cat and that year’s Auburn team!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Krayzie says:
The Real Tyrone is prolly some 17 year old acne infested white kid with freckles n braces who watches BET 9 hours a day while all his peers are outside playing sports and picking up girls, but comes on DimeMags Msg board to talk street! LOL laaaaaaaaaame
November 4th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Kobeef says:
It’s never good for your career to be a slack-ass druggie in your NBA rookie season. Even AI worked like a dog when he was a rook.
“You just have to do what you think is best for you”
…soooo, you think moving on from the NBA was a good idea?
November 4th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Eduardo says:
Hey Guitar Hero..nice to see some Portugal folks around here..I remember Chris stint with Oliveirense..he had everything to be one hell of a ballplayer but he was just one of those guys that doesn’t come to the court at 100%..what a shame..
Big up from Portooooo!!
November 4th, 2009 at 11:48 am
RonNation says:
Can you do a “Where Are They Now” on Carlos Boozer?
thxthxthxthxthxthxthx
November 4th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Promoman says:
He got booted out of Auburn. He took money to help his grandmother or mother keep her home, if I remember correctly. That’s why he entered the draft.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Celts Fan says:
Can we get a Shawn Respert, William Avery, Chris Carawell, Ed Cota, and awful Kris Lang?
November 4th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
sh!tfaced says:
What about a “Where Are They Now?” on Hasheem Thabeet?
You know, that 7-3 center from Africa, chosen 2nd in the draft, used to star at UConn, last seen playing in the Final Four, allegedly had lots of potential…?
November 4th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
K Dizzle says:
Porter was a beast. Shoulda left school after that monster junior year before the NBA figured out he was a freak athlete with no real hoop skills…
He would’ve gone first round and got the guaranteed cash to help his family. “Problem” was, dude actually liked college…..oh well
November 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Chaos says:
@Celts fan….i think they did one on Shawn Respert…actually the first was on respert but i would like to see what happened to Cota. That was my dude at UNC but i think he went the way of a lot of pgs that had no jump shot
November 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Diego says:
@ post 11: Yeah, I remember that now. Porter really dropped from Jr. to Sr. year.
If you are a college player and your stock is skyhigh after a certain year, it is time to go pro!
The landscape is littered with guys like Tony White (Tenn.), Brett Nelson (FL), Roy Hibbert, etc. who were rated (unjustifiably) high at a certain time in their college career, but hung in college too long and their stock plummetted.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Wil says:
He broke his leg or something in or before his senior year that set him back. I may be wrong, but I though his injury was the reason for him dropping the second rd.
The Real Tyrone- were you being serous when you said that? If you dont know him then you dont know bball.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Can we get a where are they now on CHRIS GATLING LOL…seriously.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Guitar Hero says:
@ Eduardo: também sou do Porto
November 4th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
shonuff says:
porter was drafted 5yrs to early…If he was drafted around 05-08 he would be a good player for an uptempo team. The rules changes would’ve fit him great!!! He use to remind me of craig mack for some reason…hahahaha
November 4th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
bigger_daddy says:
yeah that was why i was so excited when porter chose to play in the pro league here in the Philippines. However, if i am not mistaken, he played only two or three games as there were other ‘imports’ who clearly outplayed him. so much for my porter ‘afro-dunkin’ rookie card.