LAS VEGAS, NV — Lawrence Frank LA Clippers moved quickly in free agency to build a competitive roster with the loss of star Paul George. That includes an agreement on a deal with former Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr., who has been out of the NBA since last September following his arrest last September.

The Incident And Plea Agreement

On the morning of September 11, 2023, Porter Jr. was arrested and later charged with assault and strangulation of his girlfriend, Kysre Gondrezick, formerly of the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever. Prosecutors stated that Porter Jr.'s alleged attack on his girlfriend left her with a fractured neck vertebra and a cut above her right eye.

Kyrse Gondrezick spoke out after the incident, denying the allegations that Kevin Porter Jr. hit or punched her.

“He didn't hit me,” Gondrezick told the New York Post. “He never balled his fists up and hit me,” Gondrezick said. “And he definitely didn't punch me in the face numerous times. That is a lie. I don't have any injuries to support that.”

In January 2024, Porter Jr. reached a plea agreement of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment in the second degree.

According to the Associated Press, the agreement states that Kevin Porter Jr., “must complete a 26-week Abusive Partner Intervention Program or an equivalent program with a private counselor. He must also abide by a limited order of protection, attend all court dates and have no further arrests.

“If Porter complies,” the Associated Press explained, “he’ll be able to withdraw his assault plea in a year and will be sentenced at that time to time served for the non-criminal harassment count, prosecutors said, effectively clearing his criminal record.”

The Clippers Speak About Kevin Porter Jr. Addition

When the team officially signed Kevin Porter Jr., there was no statement or quote from President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank. Derrick Jones Jr. and Nicolas Batum, however, both received statements in their official signings minutes prior to Porter Jr.'s.

Frank met with members of the media in Las Vegas amid the NBA's Summer League, where he was asked directly by ClutchPoints regarding the decision to sign Kevin Porter Jr.

“First of all, look, we're obviously very aware of his history,” Lawrence Frank responded to ClutchPoints‘ inquiry. “We've studied the case. We don't in any way want to downplay or minimize or condone domestic violence, okay? The allegations are serious and they're disturbing.

“With that being said, what we did is we hired an outside expert. We spent a couple days with Kevin, the expert did a very thorough evaluation and based on the expert's recommendations, we decided that it was worth an opportunity for Kevin. Now, with that being said, there's a personal development plan that he committed to back in October, and then we have our own personal development plan that he's committed to and will be held accountable to and we think based on those facts that positive change is possible and the standards will be high for Kevin. But we totally are aware of the history and in no shape, way, shape or form do we want to minimize what the allegations are.”

When asked if the organization took time to speak with some of the women in the organization, some of whom may be working directly with Porter Jr., Lawrence Frank essentially said no.

“Well, I think we didn't have conversations with specific women, but every decision that we make is we want to create a safe and comfortable work environment and based on the experts we consulted with, they gave us very encouraging, in regards to a safe and comfortable work environment, that will not be a factor.”

There are no details as of yet about what the personal development plan that Porter Jr. committed to with the Clippers entails.

Lawrence Frank did not speak to whether he expects the NBA to discipline Kevin Porter Jr., but says the organization will abide by whatever decision the league makes.

“You do a thorough background of the entire, basically everything that you're allowed to dig into, but there's certain things that are off limits of where it's at. And look, even though the charges were lessened on Kevin, we still don't try to diminish anything in terms of what was alleged. So you just do the most you can. The NBA is going to do their own process. That's how these things work and so it'll abide by whatever the NBA decides.”

A league source confirmed to ClutchPoints that the NBA plans to continue its investigation into Kevin Porter Jr. now that the guard is back in the league. There is no word yet, however, on whether or not Porter Jr. is facing any kind of discipline from the league.

Kevin Porter Jr., 24 years of age, has played four years in the NBA thus far with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets. Porter Jr. did have a career year with the Rockets in 2022-23, averaging 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 44.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.6 percent from three.