Former Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. reached a deal with prosecutors in a Manhattan court Tuesday, pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault and a harassment violation in the case involving his former girlfriend and WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick, per the Associated Press and Porter’s attorneys.
Porter, 23, agreed to a charge of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, per a statement from Porter’s attorneys. He must complete a 26-week Abusive Partner Intervention Program, according to the Associated Press, abide by a limited order of protection, attend all court dates and have no further arrests. After a year, if Porter complies, he will be allowed to withdraw the plea, effectively clearing his criminal record.
“The resolution will allow Mr. Porter to put this incident, which involved false felony allegations and false facts, behind him with no criminal record and move forward,” Porter Jr.’s attorneys, Phillip Jobe and Stephanie Kelemen, said in a statement.
Porter was arrested on Sept. 11 and charged with assault and strangulation of his girlfriend. A New York Police Department spokesperson said a 911 call was placed from the Millennium Hilton Hotel at 6:45 a.m. ET that morning. When officers arrived, the woman was at the location with lacerations to her face. EMS transported the woman to an area hospital in stable condition. The woman suffered a fractured neck vertebra and a cut above her right eye, prosecutors said in court, per the Associated Press. Porter was released the following day on $75,000 bail.
Gondrezick has since denied being hit, accusing prosecutors of pushing a “false narrative.” She told the New York Post in October that she and Porter argued “for not even 10 seconds” in their room at the Millennium Hilton.
“He didn’t hit me. He never balled his fists up and hit me,” Gondrezick told the New York Post.
Porter is currently a free agent. The Rockets traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in October and he was immediately waived.
A 2019 first-round pick, Porter played with Houston the past three seasons after being acquired in a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Rockets re-signed him to a four-year, $82.5 million extension in October 2022.
With the Cavaliers, Porter was suspended as a rookie for making contact with a game official. He started the 2020-21 season inactive after an offseason arrest following a one-car accident. Porter was charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, failure to control the vehicle and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Porter claimed he didn’t know the gun was there, and the charges were eventually dismissed, per the AP.
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(Photo: Scott Wachter / USA Today)
