In a Denver courtroom on Friday afternoon, Coban Porter, a former member of the University of Denver basketball team and the younger brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. and recently banned former NBA player Jontay Porter, was sentenced to six years in prison after a January 2023 drunk-driving crash that resulted in the death of another driver (Kathy Limon Rothman) and serious injuries to the passenger in Rothman’s vehicle. According to prosecutors, Coban Porter was driving 50 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, and his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit at the time of the crash.
Among the many individuals who spoke both on behalf of Rothman and Porter, including Michael Porter Jr., who explained that even though his brother Coban is three years younger than him, he’s still someone who he looks up to.
“I truly don’t think I’d be in the position I am today as a professional basketball player without a brother like Coban pushing me every day,” Michael Porter Jr. said, per Shelly Bradbury of the Denver Post. “He would get up earlier than me, work out harder than me. I know it’s not often that a big brother looks up to a younger brother, but that is how it was for me.”
He then spoke directly to the Rothman family, explaining that he was the first member of his family to find out about the crash after receiving a phone call from a police officer at 7 a.m. that morning, and he didn’t know whether it was Coban or someone else who had died in the accident.
“He said, ‘Coban has been in a fatal accident.’ He didn’t specify if Coban was the one who died or if it was someone else. I understand your family’s pain and hurt. When he didn’t specify what it was, I felt that. I know that if I were in your shoes and it was reversed, I would have a lot of feelings as well.”
Coban Porter addressed the court as well ahead of his sentencing on Friday, saying, “All I can really say is that I’m sorry. I know that I’m never going to be able to right that wrong. … I never thought I’d be standing here. I thought I was invincible. It wasn’t the first time I chose to drink and drive. I chose to drive there, I chose to drink and I chose to try to drive home. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I hope you know that. I know that doesn’t change anything.”
The sentencing brings an end to what has been a horrendous week for the Porter family. On Wednesday, 24-year-old Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for life for betting on games — including unders on prop bets on himself, and betting the Raptors to lose — and for disclosing information to other bettors, all acts strictly prohibited in the league’s player conduct memo. This leaves Nuggets forward Michael, the oldest of the three brothers, reeling and surely dealing with a tremendous emotional burden as Denver prepares to begin their 1st Round NBA Playoff series versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
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