Fact check: NBA player Michael Porter Jr. (MPJ) suffered from chronic back pain for 10 years.

Verdict: mostly true — Trust Score 65/100

This content is confirmed by 9 sources including sports news archives and podcast records. While the specific details regarding Michael Porter Jr.'s surgeries and his endorsement of the mind-body approach are factual, the post frames this as a total abandonment of physical medicine and uses it to support unverified claims that most chronic pain is purely psychological.

mostly true verification card — Trust Score 65/100
Platform
instagram
Source author
serge_dulau_ — see all fact-checks of this account
Original post
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYHmP9Di624/?igsh=MWpleXVicGY2czQyeQ==
Verified on
May 11, 2026
Verification ID
oCQpZVcyK1STjZmP3CPugA

Original content reviewed

Platform: INSTAGRAM Author: @serge_dulau_ --- Caption/Description --- Tell me how an NBA basketball player has chronic back pain for 10 years, gets 3 surgeries for it, and finally heals through a mind body approach, And the entire medical community doesn’t hear about it and no one says a word Because it’s too easy, it’s not rigorous enough, it’s just voodoo bullshit, right? Imagine if this guy had never found the person with the solution for him, he’d go on treating his body for his whole life, and the pain would continue. That’s what happens to millions of people in this country. Because the medical system refuses to acknowledge the truth behind mind-body pain. Which the VAST MAJORITY OF CHRONIC PAIN comes from. So damn crazy and sad --- Audio Transcript (What was said) --- [Background Music - Not Narration] Tell me how an NBA player has back pain for 10 years, gets 3 surgeries, nobody can find out what the problem is. He finally goes to a person who knows how to treat using a mind-body approach and his pain is gone. And that gets totally ignored by the medical world and nobody hears a thing about it. I'll tell you how, because it goes against everything that they teach and it makes them no money. They don't want to acknowledge or even believe that the mind can have a huge influence on the body. An elite NBA player whose entire career depended on his body only healed when he ditched every single physical treatment and went directly to the root cause, which was in his mind the entire time. That's the proof. --- On-Screen Text (OCR) --- 10 years, gets three surgeries --- Nobody can find out what the problem is --- He finally goes to a person who knows how --- TCFCP Podcast MPJ is FREE of Chronic Back Pain to treat using a mind body approach and his --- TCFCP Podcast MPJ is FREE of Chronic Back Pain And that gets totally ignored by the medical --- world and nobody hears a thing about it --- HOSPITAL INC. SURGERY CENTER INCREASED PRICES. GUARANTE

Claims analyzed (5)

  1. verified: NBA player Michael Porter Jr. (MPJ) suffered from chronic back pain for 10 years.
    MPJ's back issues are well-documented starting from his high school years (circa 2016) through his professional career in 2026.
  2. verified: Michael Porter Jr. underwent three surgeries for his back pain before finding a solution.
    Official NBA and medical reports confirm surgeries in 2017 (L3-L4 microdiscectomy), 2018 (second spinal surgery), and 2021 (lumbar spine surgery).
  3. misleading: Michael Porter Jr. healed his chronic back pain exclusively through a mind-body approach after ditching all physical treatments.
    While MPJ credits the mind-body 'JournalSpeak' method for his recovery, he remains an active NBA player (Brooklyn Nets as of 2026) who utilizes elite physical training, medical staff, and maintenance. The claim that he 'ditched' all physical treatments is an exaggeration of his integrated approach.
  4. mixed: The vast majority of chronic pain originates from mind-body issues rather than physical structural problems.
    Medical science recognizes 'neuroplastic pain' and 'central sensitization,' where the brain generates pain without structural damage. However, claiming this accounts for the 'vast majority' of all chronic pain is a subject of ongoing research and not the current universal medical consensus, which favors a biopsychosocial model.
  5. misleading: The medical community ignores mind-body treatments for chronic pain because they are not profitable.
    While profit motives in the pharmaceutical and surgical industries are criticized, mind-body treatments (CBT, MBSR) are increasingly integrated into mainstream medical guidelines (e.g., VA, Mayo Clinic, NIH). The claim of intentional 'ignorance' for profit is a common sensationalist framing.

Sources consulted (19)

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