Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. has a lot on his mind as the Nuggets face the Lakers in round one of the NBA Playoffs tonight.
On Friday, a Colorado judge sentenced Michael’s younger brother, Coban Porter to 6 years in prison for a fatal DUI crash.
Last week, their older brother, Jontay Porter, 26, was banned for life by the NBA for betting on games.
Coban, 22, was a University of Denver basketball player when he ran a red light and crashed into an Uber driven by Kathy Limon Rothman, 42. She was pronounced dead.
A passenger in the Uber suffered serious injuries. Both families sued Coban and the bar that overserved him before the crash.
Coban pled guilty to vehicular homicide-DUI and vehicular assault in Denver District Court on Friday.
He wiped away tears as his older brother, Michael Jr., 25, spoke to the judge on his behalf. Michael said he wished it was him on trial and not Coban.
“My second thought was, ‘Man, I hope, I hope not Coban. Of anyone in my family, there’s no way Coban is going through this,’” Michael Jr. told the court.
He continued: “Like I said, he’s the one out of all of us, he’s the one who doesn’t deserve to do that. And even though he made choices, you know, there’s a lot of people in life who make bad choices, and it doesn’t end up the way it did for Coban. I remember during the whole process, I was just thinking ‘Man, like, I wish it was me.’”
After the sentencing hearing, Rothman’s family said they missed her, but they are at peace.
