“In between games I got three texts from Michael…saying, ‘I have to be better, I can do better, stay with me,’ all those things,” Malone explained. “I said, ‘Michael, I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna stay with you. You’re a hell of a young player and you’re gonna continue to grow.’” “I just told him that I could bring a lot more,” Porter said of the texts he sent Malone. “I didn’t bring the energy, I didn’t bring the effort and enthusiasm last game, and that can never be the case.” “I just told him that I know that, and especially with Jamal and Gary and Will out, I gotta be a guy that steps up and kind of takes on a role,” Porter added. “So I told him I understand that, and it would not happen again.”