Michael Porter Jr. says he narrowly avoided a jail stint after weed was discovered in his backpack while he was flying to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, a scare that left him thinking he might end up in a situation like LiAngelo Ball’s in China.
On the latest episode of the Curious Mike show, the Brooklyn Nets forward said the cannabis belonged to someone who worked for him and ended up in his bag by mistake.
“I almost got arrested going to Cabo,” Porter said. “I flew private, and I accidentally brought some weed in my backpack from someone that worked for me.
And they found it in the scanner, bro. I thought it was wraps.
There’s certain countries you don’t [want to get caught].”
Porter said the matter was resolved with one phone call after airport authorities flagged the item. He also said police told him that bribery might be a way out of the situation.
“Someone from the jet company or my agent or someone called someone, and then they just dropped it,” Porter said. “But all the people, all the police were like, ‘You’re going to jail.
If you want to get out of this situation, just try to bribe whoever is bringing you to the jail, and they might let you go.’ I’m tripping, bro.
This is like two years ago.”
Porter said he believed the incident could turn into something similar to what happened to LiAngelo Ball, who was arrested along with then-UCLA teammates Jalen Hill and Cody Riley for shoplifting in Hangzhou, China, in November 2017.
“I thought it was going to be like [LiAngelo Ball],” Porter said. “When Gelo got stuck in China.”
Ball, Hill, and Riley spent a day and a half in jail before being released on bail. They were later confined to their hotel rooms, and the charges were dropped after about a week, allowing them to return home.
Porter said the Cabo incident happened two years ago and that he had mentioned it before, though it did not become public at the time. He said he was relieved the situation ended without jail time or a bribery attempt.
The story comes as Porter, who averaged 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, is now talking big about the Nets’ future. He believes he and Julius Randle can help Brooklyn reach 50-plus wins in the 2026-27 NBA season, a massive jump for a team that won only 20 games last season.
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