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Houston Rockets guard Sterling Brown entered the wrong van after leaving a strip club and was beaten in a bloody scene that left those close to him fearing for his life, according to The Athletic.
Brown and several teammates went to the Booby Trap around the time Sunday turned to Monday and the team arrived in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables, Fla, per the report.
The Rockets released a statement that Brown was the “victim of an assault” and had “no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants.” The statement mentioned he suffered “facial lacerations” but said a “full recovery” is expected.
Brown and three or more individuals in the van had a heated exchange that escalated to hitting Brown on the head with a bottle and “leaving blood everywhere,” a source told The Athletic. Teammates reportedly stepped in to break up the fight as they left the club.
“If he hadn’t been as physically strong and tough, he might not have made it out of the situation (Sunday) night,” one source said. “He could have died.”
Brown and an unidentified man “became belligerent and refused to cooperate” with police who were called to the scene, according to the incident report obtained by The Athletic. “Several attempts were made to gather information from (from Brown) who kept insisting he did not want to provide his information, he only wanted rescue to take him to the hospital.”
Brown required multiple heavy stitching jobs for facial injuries that led to blood dripping all over the floor in his private quarters in the emergency room, and he underwent a battery of tests before he was discharged and cleared to return to Houston, per the report.
The fallout is complex.
No arrests have been publicized in the case. Brown’s health is a concern. And then there is the NBA’s investigation into the circumstances that led to the incident because league policy in a time of COVID-19 safeguards prohibits players from going to bars, lounges and clubs, which speaks to why Brown might not have wanted to cooperate with police.
Brown’s representation at Priority Sports agency told The Athletic, “Our No. 1 concern is Sterling’s health. We will rely on law enforcement to help get to the bottom of this and the facts about what went down.”
The Rockets said they will cooperate fully with a league investigation, but the report said team officials directed players not to respond to inquires.
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