Houston Rockets: Sterling Brown Attacked, Injured In Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Houston Rockets guard Sterling Brown was reportedly attacked after the team arrived in Miami late Sunday night.
"Sterling Brown was the victim of an assault," the Rockets announced in a statement issued Monday evening. "He had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants. He suffered facial lacerations but will make a full recovery."
The team did not divulge any other details. It was not immediately known if any incident reports were filed with the police.
The NBA said it was gathering information on the incident and was hopeful that Brown makes a full recovery.
Brown did not play Monday against the Heat. The team said that was because of a recent knee injury that has kept him out for a total of five games and not the altercation.
In 2018, Brown sued officials in Milwaukee after getting taken to the ground, shocked with a Taser, and arrested during an encounter surrounding a parking violation with police. He claimed in his lawsuit that police used excessive force and targeted him because he is Black.
Brown illegally parked in a disabled spot outside a store and was talking with a group of officers while waiting for his citation when the situation escalated. He did not immediately remove his hands from his pockets, as ordered, and officers used a stun gun.
Last November, Brown and the city agreed on a settlement where he would receive $750,000 plus an admission from the city that his civil rights were violated.
Brown was among a small group of NBA players invited to the Vatican last fall to speak with Pope Francis, who hailed them as "champions" for social justice. Brown told the pope about what he and the Milwaukee Bucks went through in the NBA's restart bubble — particularly when they decided to sit out a playoff game against Orlando in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas said he spoke with Brown on Monday and was relieved that he would be fine.
"Heart-wrenching. Rips your heart out," Silas said. "It's one of your guys, someone on your team that you care about, someone that you're with every day. As far as how I'm feeling and how the team is feeling, we're all just thankful, No. 1, that he's going to be OK — and also down about what happened."
Brown is averaging a career-best 8.2 points this season, his fourth in the NBA and first with the Rockets. He spent his first three NBA seasons with Milwaukee.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
