Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. was reportedly with teammate Sterling Brown when Brown got jumped Sunday.
Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic:
Some Rockets players had started filing out of the Booby Trap strip club prior to the incident, but a couple of them who remained — including the team’s talented young guard Kevin Porter Jr. — also stepped into the altercation as a way to protect Brown and remove him from the situation, according to sources. Porter was also roughed up a bit by the individuals, those sources said, but was fine and played Monday night against the Heat (18 points, three assists, 31 minutes).
Before Houston’s loss to the Jazz on Wednesday, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said Porter would be out – likely until Sunday – due to the NBA’s coronavirus protocols.
Many players have missed games this season due to the protocols – because of contact tracing or a positive test. But Porter is apparently being held out because he violated the protocols.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. will miss time because of a violation of the NBA’s health and safety protocols stemming from visiting a Miami strip club with teammate Sterling Brown that resulted in Brown being assaulted, sources told ESPN.
The protocols restrict players from going to clubs, though there are more allowances upon sufficient vaccination.
Is Porter being held out because there’s elevated concern he could have and spread coronavirus? Or is he being punished? If the former, why did he play Monday? If the latter, is three games an appropriate consequence?
In addition to Utah yesterday, Houston plays the Clippers tomorrow and Nuggets on Saturday. Players are docked 1/72 of their salary for each game missed due to a health-and-safety-protocol violation. For Porter, that’d be $23,861 per game ($71,583 for three games).
However, the NBA has not announced anything about Porter. The league announced fines for James Harden and Kyrie Irving for violating the protocols earlier in the season.
Perhaps, the NBA is still investigating the incident – though not necessarily with the Rockets’ help.
