This is the same type of situation that got Kevin Porter Jr. traded from the Cavs.
He has suffered through mental health issues throughout his young career (he is only 21). Hopefully, this can all work out since he has been playing a lot better with his time with the Rockets.
Here is what happened per Shams.
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.
Wood was benched to start the loss to Denver after missing a mandatory COVID-19 testing window. Lucas called out entire team at halftime, and focused on Wood’s effort level. Porter had a heated exchange with the longtime assistant, and drove out of arena at halftime.
Considering that Lucas isn’t the head coach, this does fall a bit on Stephan Silas not having control of the locker room and his assistants.
Here is what Silas had to say.
“We had a spirited debate,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said during his postgame media availability. “I have certain demands of this team as far as playing hard. … I wasn’t satisfied with the effort.”
The Rockets announced during the second half that Porter was questionable to return due to his left thigh being evaluated. Porter has been bothered for weeks by a left thigh contusion, causing him to miss several games, but that was not the issue that led to his absence after halftime, according to sources.
The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Porter to the Rockets last January for a top-55-protected second-round pick after deciding to move on from their former first-round pick due to off-court issues, which led to Porter being inactive for the beginning of the 2020-21 season. The Cavaliers announced their intention to trade or release Porter, the No. 30 overall pick in the 2019 draft, after he had an outburst regarding the moving of his locker to a different section of the locker room in mid-January.
Flip the pages for some of the Twitter reactions.
