Houston Rockets goalie Kevin Porter Jr. will lose time due to a violation of NBA health and safety protocols resulting from visiting a Miami strip club in Miami with teammate Sterling Brown, which led to Brown’s assault. sources told ESPN.
Porter is likely to come out at least until Sunday, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said before Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz. NBA health and safety protocols limit where players can go on the road.
Miami-Dade police said Brown had “multiple lacerations all over his body” when they arrived at 6:53 a.m. Monday in response to a fight. Brown, who was left with a knee injury, was transported to a local hospital.
The Rockets announced before Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat that Brown had suffered facial lacerations due to an attack by aggressors with whom he “had no prior knowledge or interacted with” and would make a full recovery.
Brown returned to Houston in recovery.
“He was assaulted and has swellings, bruises and other things like that,” Silas said, “so things like that get a little worse … before they get better.”
Silas said he spoke with Brown on Tuesday and contacted Wednesday, but did not contact him then. He said Brown sees the doctors and works with the team’s training staff as he recovers.
“The main thing for me is that he knows that we are 100% behind him and that we have his back and we want him to feel soon, to come back and come back together with his teammates and all that stuff,” Silas said. .
The Rockets bought 20-year-old Porter in a January deal after the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to trade or give up the 2019 first-round pick due to out-of-court issues. Houston gave up a first choice in the second round protected in the top.
Porter’s performance was one of the highlights of a rebuilding season for the Rockets, who sent him into the G-League ball before making his Houston debut. He averaged 15.5 points and 6.2 assists in 21 games for the Rockets.
Silas said he often talks to his team about the league’s health and safety protocols and the importance of following them.
“Today we talked about a lot of things that weren’t just things from Sterling,” he said. “And we certainly talked about that as a group … in the last two days … so they know absolutely where I’m sitting. “When it comes to such things, it’s not just a one-on-one conversation with this group. It’s a consistent communication with the group.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.