Troubled Houston Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. was nowhere to be seen when the team hosted its annual Media Day to kick off the season Monday.
That was by design.
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone began the press conference by announcing that Porter is not with the team and he doesn’t expect him to be around. It was the first time the Rockets had addressed Porter’s arrest on domestic assault and strangulation charges last month following a physical fight with his girlfriend in a New York hotel room.
“The allegations against him are deeply troubling,” Stone said. “Going back a few weeks, as soon as I heard the allegations, I informed his representatives that he could not be part of the Houston Rockets. They understood, and he has not been with the team or around it since that time.”
Stone was careful not to say the Rockets are releasing Porter, only offering that at this point it’s an NBA issue that will be dealt with. The Rockets could waive Porter, but they would have to pay him a big part of the four-year, $72.6 million extension that he signed last October.
He is owed $15.9 million this season, but because he is up against domestic violence charges, the league could void his contract.
“What’s left for the team to do is evaluate the next steps for our organization that remain in compliance with the league domestic violence policy,” Stone said. “This is now a league matter, and that’s where it’s at.”
This likely means the end of Porter’s NBA career after previous brushes with the law. He ended up in Houston via a trade with the Cavaliers following some legal trouble. Porter was also accused of punching a woman in the face in 2020, but the charges were dropped.
