<p>NEW YORK — The NBA has fined Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. $50,000 for violating the league’s health and safety rules by visiting a strip club in Miami last week with teammate Sterling Brown, who was assaulted outside the establishment.</p>
<p>The league bars players from attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people or entering bars, lounges and clubs. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-houston-miami-houston-rockets-sterling-brown-4165d9fa101c0c0cf2058894ca3d44e9">The Rockets were in Miami to play the Heat when the visit occurred April 19</a>.</p>
<p>According to an incident report, Miami-Dade police responding to an anonymous call about a fight in the parking lot of Booby Trap on the River around 7 a.m. found Brown with multiple lacerations. He was with another Black male and the report says both men “became belligerent and refused to cooperate.”</p>
<p>Brown was identified by a fire department captain who took him to a hospital. The incident report says that there were no witnesses at the scene and club employees said they did not see what happened.</p>
<p>The Rockets released a statement about the incident that said that Brown was the victim of an assault.</p>
<p>“He had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants,” the team said. “He suffered facial lacerations but will make a full recovery.”</p>
<p>The Rockets host Brown’s former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, on Thursday night.</p>
<hr />
<p>More AP NBA: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/NBA">https://apnews.com/hub/NBA</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Sports">https://twitter.com/AP_Sports</a></p>
