Houston Rockets Feared for Player’s Life After Assault in Miami

The Houston Rockets are very concerned for one of their players following an assault in Miami. This week, the team announced that Sterling Brown was the victim of an assault that occurred at a Maimi nightclub. He is expected to make a full recovery, but according to Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Brown was taken to the emergency room for the incident, and the situation was so serious, Rockets players and coaches feared for his life.

“Last night, Sterling Brown was the victim of an assault,” the Rockets said in a statement on Monday night. “He had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants. He suffered facial lacerations but will make a full recovery. Sterling is not playing tonight because of his prior knee injury.” The Rockets arrived in Miami on Sunday night after a 114-110 win over the Magic in Orlando. The Athletic reports a few players “took the short 20-minute trip to the Booby Trap strip club,” as they were staying in Coral Gables.

The report goes on to say that “Brown entered the wrong sprinter van on his way out of the club and had a heated exchange of words with three or more individuals who appeared to possess the sprinter at the time. It escalated into all of those individuals jumping Brown, physically beating him up, hitting him in the head with a bottle and leaving blood everywhere.” One source told The Athletic that the individual cracked Brown’s head with a bottle while another source said that the back of Brown’s head was struck during the altercation.

Brown’s teammate, Kevin Porter Jr., stepped into the altercation to protect Brown and got roughed up in the process. He was able to play against the Miami Heat on Monday night, scoring 18 points, and three assists in 31 minutes.

Police arrived on the scene after getting a call from an anonymous person. The incident report said: “Upon attempting to assist both males, and gather information as to what occurred, both males became belligerent and refused to cooperate. Several attempts were made to gather information from (from Brown), who kept insisting he did not want to provide his information, he only wanted rescue to take him to the hospital.” Brown, 26, was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks shortly after the draft and played for the Bucks for three seasons. He signed with the Rockets in November.