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Kevin Porter Jr. has had trouble staying out of trouble during his time in the NBA, and it’s hard not to wonder if he’ll have a place in the league for much longer based on what’s come out since he was charged with assaulting his girlfriend (and former WNBA player) Kysre Gondrezick at a hotel in New York City.
A number of NBA teams were hesitant to take a chance on Porter due to the off-the-court issues he had during his time at USC, and while he eventually ended up on the Cavaliers after being selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, he struggled to turn over a new leaf after making the leap.
Porter found himself in legal trouble after a gun and marijuana were found in the SUV he overturned outside of Cleveland in 2020, and while those charges were dropped, he was shipped off to the Rockets the following year for throwing a temper tantrum in the Cavaliers locker room after discovering his belongings had been moved.
While Houston signed the guard to a four-year extension potentially worth over $80 million in 2022, only $15 million of that money was guaranteed, and the deal was structured in a way that essentially gave the Rockets the right to release him for any reason thanks in no small part to his history.
Fears about his anger issues were realized earlier this week when Porter was arrested and charged with assault and strangulation over what allegedly unfolded at a hotel in New York City on Monday morning, as police say he confronted Gondrezick prior to a physical altercation where she accused him of repeatedly striking her and wrapping his hands around her neck.
According to ESPN, prosecutors revealed more details when Porter was arraigned in court on Tuesday, as the outlet reports they introduced evidence that shows Gondrezick (who briefly played for the Indiana Fever in 2021) suffered a “fractured neck vertebra and a cut above her right eye” stemming from what has been described as a “serious domestic violence case.”
Porter is innocent until proven guilty, but based on the facts at hand, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be suiting up in the NBA in the near future (or ever again).