HOUSTON – A former psychologist who worked for Spurs, Dr. Hillary Cauthen, has filed a lawsuit in Bexar County alleging the franchise ignored “her repeated reports of indecent exposure” of 19-year-old security guard Josh Primo in hopes it may have done so. ignore and then cover up his actions.”
“The Spurs organization was willing to send Dr. Sacrificing Cauthen to keep who they hoped would one day be a star player,” the lawsuit reads. “Once Primo’s behavior became public, Spurs were forced to act and release Primo. Spurs’ recent actions regarding Primo are too little, too late.”
The lawsuit was filed Thursday morning in Bexar County District Court.
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Cauthen’s attorney, Tony Buzbee, said Cauthen made her first report of Primo’s conduct to Spurs management in January 2022.
“Primo has Dr. Cauthen repeatedly exposed his genitals (nine times total) during individual private sessions, despite her numerous complaints about Primo’s inappropriate sexual behavior in running the organization.”
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Cauthen met again with Spurs general manager Brian Wright on March 21, 2022 to discuss Primo’s alleged conduct.
Buzbee said Cauthen wanted Gregg Popovich to know what was going on and said Spurs told Cauthen in June that Popovich was aware of the allegations. But Buzbee said he couldn’t be sure if Popovich actually found out.
“The organization I worked for let me down. … It took Spurs 10 months to do the right thing. And that’s too long,” Cauthen said at the press conference.
Primo’s attorney, William J. Briggs II, said in a statement that his client “is harassed by his former team, an appointed sports psychologist, who plays on ugly stereotypes and racially charged fears for their own financial gain.”
“In an act of betrayal of her young client, Dr. Cauthen, who is 40, incorrectly claims that Josh Primo has exposed herself to her over the course of her numerous therapy sessions for beautification or utter fantasy. Josh Primo never intentionally exposed himself to her or anyone else, and was unaware that his privates were visible outside of his training shorts,” the statement said.
The statement also claims that “Dr. Cauthen never informed her patient of the alleged exposure.”
In a move that stunned the NBA and ranks among the most shocking in franchise history, the Spurs waived 19-year-old Primo last Friday, just four games into his second season after the club picked him up in the 2021 NBA draft had chosen 12th place overall.
About three hours after Spurs announced they had dropped Primo, he issued a statement to ESPN saying he’s “seeked help to cope with previous trauma I’ve suffered and will now take this time to focus more fully on my mental health treatment.” He added that he hopes to “discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way.”
In the four-paragraph press release announcing they were letting Primo go, Spurs gave no reasons for their decision other than a statement from chief executive officer RC Buford that the club hopes “in the long term this decision will serve the purpose serving the best interests of both the organization and Joshua.”
Primo was just 18 when he was drafted by the Spurs after playing college ball in Alabama for a year. He averaged 7.0 points, 4.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds this season after averaging 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a rookie.
Spurs waived him after earning the team’s third-year option on his rookie contract, a budget move that guaranteed he would be paid $4.3 million in 2022-23 after winning 4, Raised $1 million.
After clearing Sunday’s waivers, he became a free agent. Had he been claimed by another team on Monday, that club would have committed to pay Primo the $8.4 million owed to him.