NEW YORK — The NBA has fined Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. $50,000 for violating the league’s health and safety rules by visiting a strip club in Miami last week with teammate Sterling Brown, who was assaulted outside the establishment.
The league bars players from attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people or entering bars, lounges and clubs. The Rockets were in Miami to play the Heat when the visit occurred April 19.
According to an incident report, Miami-Dade police responding to an anonymous call about a fight in the parking lot of Booby Trap on the River around 7 a.m. found Brown with multiple lacerations. He was with another Black male and the report says both men “became belligerent and refused to cooperate.”
Brown was identified by a fire department captain who took him to a hospital. The incident report says that there were no witnesses at the scene and club employees said they did not see what happened.
The Rockets released a statement about the incident that said that Brown was the victim of an assault.
“He had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants,” the team said. “He suffered facial lacerations but will make a full recovery.”
The Rockets host Brown’s former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, on Thursday night.
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