He played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and led the league in assists four times in his pro career.

[1] Born and raised in Chicago, Porter graduated from DuSable High School, earning a starting point guard spot as a sophomore, averaging 15 ppg and 7 apg.

Porter led DuSable to the last Chicago Daily News Christmas Holiday Tournament Championship.

Porter thrived at Saint Francis, scoring 1,766 points in his career, averaging 22.9 over four years, including 24.7 ppg as a senior.

He should be remembered as someone with quickness and vision who orchestrated NBA games against history’s premier guards.”[4] Porter himself added, "That's what I did.

[6] In late August 1975, Porter was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Dave Bing and a first round draft pick in 1977,[7] used to select Tree Rollins.

"[8] John Papanek of Sports Illustrated (SI) would state, "if the Pistons were a TV mini-series, they would make Roots seem like Ding Dong School.

"[9][10][11] In the early start of his third season with the Pistons, the tensions with Brown came to a head as Porter was traded with Howard Porter and cash to the New Jersey Nets for Al Skinner, a 1978 2nd round draft pick (used to select Terry Tyler) and a 1979 2nd round draft pick (used to select Tony Price).

After the season, Porter was traded back to the Pistons, now led by coach Dick Vitale, in exchange for Eric Money.

[15] Porter appeared as a member of the Detroit team in the cult classic basketball film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh in 1979 alongside Pistons teammates Bob Lanier, Eric Money, John Shumate, Chris Ford, and Leon Douglas.

Porter appeared in two playoff games that year and garnered nine assists as the Bullets fell in the first round.

[18] Only five players have won more assists titles than Porter, and all five of them are in the Hall of Fame (Stockton, Cousy, Robertson, Nash and Kidd).

[21] Porter then coached at Central State University, a historically black college in Ohio, and then returned to his hometown Chicago, fulfilling a dream to become an elementary physical education teacher, helping at-risk children with after school programs.