Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. has “well-documented anger management issues” according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon.
“Porter has well-documented anger management issues — which the team believes he has made progress on — but those surfaced again Saturday and ultimately drove him to leave the arena instead of rejoining the team for the second half, sources said,” wrote Wojnarowski and MacMahon.
Porter left Toyota Center after the first half of the Rockets’ matchup with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday after reportedly getting into an argument with Rockets assistant coach John Lucas. The Rockets fell to the Nuggets 124-111.
The Houston guard was suspended for Monday’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers along with big man Christian Wood. Both were disciplined for poor behavior surrounding Saturday’s matchup with Denver.
Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said Porter had “lost his temper” at halftime.
“He is emotional,” Silas said of Porter. “He’s a competitor. He’s a good kid. He owns up to his mistakes when he makes them and tries not to make mistakes again. That’s pretty much all you can ask from a guy. Yeah, we put a lot into him. We knew that he had a past before he came here. But, we hold everybody accountable to what they do. He crossed a line and he’ll be back. And we’ll still love him.’’
Porter is in his second season with the Rockets and his third season in the NBA. The 21-year-old is averaging 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game this season for Houston.
The Rockets have been struggling recently, dropping nine of their last 10 games. Houston most recently fell to the 76ers on Monday. The team will travel to face the Washington Wizards on Wednesday in hopes of putting a stop to its current losing streak.
