Kevin Porter Jr. of the Houston Rockets is a great basketball player but he has got a bit of a temper – and that might end up compromising his NBA career.
He is currently suspended from Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, along with his peer Christian Wood.
Reporting with @ESPN_MacMahon: The Houston Rockets are suspending Kevin Porter Jr., and Christian Wood for tonight’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, disciplining both for poor behavior surrounding Saturday’s loss to Denver.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 3, 2022
Porter is complicating his future with the promising Rockets team and he needs to address his personality as soon as possible unless he wants to become a player who others avoid like the plague.
Porter’s Problem
The current suspension stems from a huge blow-up on Saturday night.
Tensions rose quickly between Porter and assistant coach John Lucas during halftime.
Lucas was critiquing several players, including Porter and Wood, as the Rockets were about to enter the third quarter trailing the Denver Nuggets, 77-55.
Sources say that the discussion exploded and Porter became irate.
Apparently, Porter threw something and had to be restrained and separated from Lucas.
As expected, no one from the team is commenting on the altercation, with head coach Stephen Silas simply telling the press “we had a spirited debate.”
The debate was so spirited, in fact, that the team only returned to the floor just moments before the third quarter began – and Porter was nowhere in sight.
Sources: After Rockets assistant John Lucas called out multiple players including Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood at halftime tonight vs. Nuggets, Porter had a heated exchange with Lucas, threw an object and promptly left the arena – and Wood refused to sub into second half.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 2, 2022
The Rockets announced that Porter was being evaluated for a thigh injury but reports say that he had actually already left the arena after his fight with Lucas.
Rockets Crashing
The suspension of Porter and Wood comes at a horrible time for the Rockets, who are falling quickly through to the bottom of the Western Conference.
Just a few weeks ago they were being talked about as possible playoff contenders and were performing far better than expected.
Now they have lost seven games in a row and are the 15th seed in the West with a record of 10-27.
The team isn’t working well at all and it definitely wasn’t working well during their game against the Nuggets.
In fact, the team gave up 47 points in the second quarter alone, showcasing just how dysfunctional it is.
Anger Mismanagement
This isn’t the first time that Porter’s anger has gotten the best of him.
When playing for USC, Porter was suspended for part of the season due to “personal conduct issues.”
After one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Porter didn’t play during his second because he was arrested – although felony firearm and drug and traffic violations were later dropped.
Porter then got into an altercation in the Cavs’ locker room.
That’s when the team decided it was best to just send him on his way and soon traded him to the Rockets.
Porter is becoming better known for his off-court antics than his basketball skills and that is never the position a young player wants to be in.
He is running the risk of scaring away future teams because they will assume he is one argument away from blowing up and storming off the court.
Porter has potential and this isn’t the end of his career but he needs to get a handle on how he acts or else he will soon lose his chance to play professional basketball.
NEXT: 3 Positive Takeaways For Rockets Fans So Far This Season
