Kevin Porter Jr. violated safety protocols with strip club visit

Sterling Brown will be out indefinitely after he was assaulted outside a Coral Gables-area strip club on Sunday night, and one of his Houston Rockets teammates will miss some time stemming from the same incident.

Kevin Porter Jr. will be out until at least Sunday for violating the NBA’s health and safety protocols, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports. Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said prior to Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz that Porter will be sidelined for several days, though he did not specify the reason.

According to MacMahon, the NBA has ruled Brown ineligible because he visited a strip club with Brown. The league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols limit where players can go during road trips.

The Rockets announced before Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat that Brown suffered facial lacerations after being assaulted by a group of people with whom he “had no prior knowledge of or interaction.” Brown is expected to make a full recovery, but the details from the incident sounded incredibly frightening.

Porter has averaged 15.5 points and 6.2 assists in 21 games for the Rockets. He’s been one of very few bright spots on a team that entered Thursday with a record of 15-44.