Despite his potential, Kevin Porter Jr. hasn’t had a particularly great season, scoring just 12.8 points on 36% shooting in nearly 30 minutes per game.
But it’s off the court where the issues really begin for KPJ.
In light of his recent outburst, reports have surfaced of anger management issues that could be inhibiting his relationship with the team.
(via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski)
“Porter has well-documented anger management issues — which the team believes he has made progress on — but those surfaced again Saturday and ultimately drove him to leave the arena instead of rejoining the team for the second half, sources said,” wrote Wojnarowski and MacMahon.
In the locker room during half-time on Saturday, Porter exploded with rage after a verbal altercation with assistant coach John Lucas. After reportedly throwing an object, he hopped in his car and abandoned the squad, resulting in a one-game suspension from the organization.
Despite the situation, head coach Stephen Silas defended his actions to the media.
“He is emotional,” Silas said of Porter. “He’s a competitor. He’s a good kid. He owns up to his mistakes when he makes them and tries not to make mistakes again. That’s pretty much all you can ask from a guy. Yeah, we put a lot into him. We knew that he had a past before he came here. But, we hold everybody accountable to what they do. He crossed a line and he’ll be back. And we’ll still love him.’’
This is hardly the first time such a dramatic series of events have taken place. In fact, it’s quite tame in comparison to some of the other things that have happened in recent history.
Regardless, it illustrates a level of dysfunction for the organization that spells bad news for their future. For their sake, let’s hope KPJ is able to get a grip on his anger problems.
