MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — NBA player Kevin Porter Jr. pleaded not guilty Tuesday to assaulting his girlfriend after being arrested in Manhattan on Monday.
The Houston Rockets guard was released on $75,000 bail. The judge imposed a temporary protective order.
Porter, 23, is charged with assault and strangulation. According to the criminal complaint, the 26-year-old friend told police that Porter “repeatedly struck her in the face with a clenched fist, resulting in a laceration above her right eye as well as bruising and significant pain to her face.”
The woman said Porter “applied pressure to her neck by squeezing it forcefully, causing difficulty breathing, redness and bruising to the neck, and significant pain,” the complaint states.
She was taken to NYU Langone Medical Center, where doctors said she suffered a fractured vertebra in her neck.
According to sources, the victim is a former WNBA player.
Porter had signed a sizable contract with the Rockets the next season worth over $15 million, despite having struggled in the past.
Porter was previously arrested in Ohio for gun possession in November 2020, but a grand jury declined to indict him. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers left him inactive for the first half of the season and he was traded to Houston in January 2021.
The Houston Rockets said they were reviewing the investigation but had no further comment at this time.
Porter is due back in court on October 16.
(ABC News contributed to this report.)
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