Sterling Brown of the Houston Rockets was the victim of a reported assault on Sunday night which caused deep cuts to his face. Brown is expected to make a complete recovery, but he will miss Houston's upcoming game against the Miami Heat on Monday night.

Some perspective is needed on this story: Sterling Brown being the victim of an attack would be noteworthy in any circumstance, but the timing of this particular incident is impossible to ignore for anyone who is following national news in the United States.

There is no indication that this incident is linked to any prior episode in Brown's life. The incident should be treated as an isolated event without any connection to the past or any ulterior motive by the assailant. That said, Sterling Brown is surely going through an extra level of trauma right now.

Sterling Brown was inappropriately tased and arrested by members of the Milwaukee Police Department in a 2018 incident. Brown became one of the NBA's more prominent spokesmen for police accountability and reform.

ClutchPoints has documented the difficult journey Sterling Brown has made through the legal system in the attempt to get accountability from law enforcement for its actions. ClutchPoints has also followed Brown's move into the realm of athlete activism. 

Before he went to the Rockets, Sterling Brown was part of the Milwaukee Bucks' very brief strike in the Orlando bubble after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. The bubble playoffs were delayed so that Brown and other players could call attention to national problems in policing until they felt the league and outside entities were willing to more directly recognize and confront the problems at hand.

Sterling Brown is — with other NBA players and the rest of America — awaiting the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis, connected to the death of George Floyd. Final arguments in the case began on Monday.

There is certainly a lot on Sterling Brown's mind. The wounds to his face likely pale in comparison to the pain he is wrestling with inside, though he is very fortunate his injuries were not worse.