Professional US basketball player Michael Porter Jr (MPJ) of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Denver Nuggets, who cinched the championship this year, arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday at the invitation of CTBC Bank.
As part of the 2023 CTBC MPJ Taiwan Tour charity event, Porter visited the training center of T1 League team the New Taipei CTBC DEA, where he played some ball and discussed training methods with the team before sharing stories of the Nuggets’ triumph in the NBA Finals with junior-high school student players benefiting from the bank’s funding of sports programs.
CTBC Anti-Drug Educational Foundation chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒) presided over the charity event, presenting the visiting athlete a personalized No. 1 DEA jersey, marking Porter’s appointment as the foundation’s anti-drug ambassador.
Photo courtesy of CTBC Bank
Porter was a five-star recruitment prospect and the No. 14 pick on the NBA draft before joining the Nuggets in 2018. In the past season, he averaged 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds in 62 games as his team won their first-ever championship.
Earlier, the NBA star shook hands, posed for photographs and signed memorabilia for fans at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport when he arrived in the nation.
“I am out here to interact with the fans, so I am excited to be here,” he told reporters.
He said he was eager to see “what Taiwan is all about” and that he wanted to taste the food and visit beaches.
Asked about the training center, Porter said that he seeks to be an inspiration for young athletes with his faith and experience.
He also praised DEA’s players, saying that they showed a good understanding of passing and a strong offensive game, adding that these are the qualities of champion teams.
CTBC DEA head coach Lee Yi-hua (李逸驊) said that “Porter Jr was the most charismatic and friendly of all the NBA players he has interacted with and thoroughly showed his professionalism from warm-up to every step of the training procedure.”
The CTBC MPJ Taiwan Tour enabled Porter to interact with 60 student athletes from schools that are part of a CTBC-sponsored program with an emphasis on prevention of drug among young people via sports programs that instill purpose and self-confidence.
Porter was part of filming for an anti-drug video and he is to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the CTBC Brothers CPBL game at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium today.
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
FAST AND LOOSE: Despite command struggles, Ohtani has pitched his way out of trouble after falling behind in counts, which manager Roberts credited to his velocity Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night tossed six innings of no-hit ball, gave himself an early lead with a home run and still was not satisfied with his performance. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar dropped some expletives that were picked up by the on-field mic as he struggled with his command in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He struck out seven, walked four and gave up an earned run in the fourth inning while visibly fuming on the mound. Ohtani (5-2) earned his third consecutive victory. “Just command was off, and I just felt like I was battling the lack of
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS