INGLEWOOD — He bounced around the arena with a childlike joy, eager to start again. Not just this season, but his once-promising basketball career.
Kevin Porter Jr. is back in the NBA, this time with the Clippers. The 6-foot-6 former USC swingman knows this opportunity, his latest in a string of failed resurrections, is another chance to play the sport he loves at the highest level.
It’s another chance to show his talent. Another chance to repair his reputation, another chance to prove he has changed.
And maybe his last chance.
Porter has been dismissed, traded and suspended by one college team and three NBA teams for a series of incidents that has derailed his career up to this point. The talented, yet controversial Porter found himself on the outside looking in last year when he was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder following his arrest on domestic violence charges.
Porter, 24, pleaded guilty in December to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault and a harassment violation in connection with an incident in September 2023 that left his girlfriend, Kysre Gondrezick, with a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her eye. He reached a plea deal that kept him out of jail, but also out of the NBA.
As part of the deal, Porter reportedly needed to complete a 26-week Abusive Partner Intervention Program, abide by a limited order of protection, attend court dates and have no further arrests. After a year, if Porter complied, he will be allowed to withdraw the plea, effectively clearing his criminal record.
And clearing his way back to the NBA.
“I’m just blessed to have this opportunity to be back doing what I love and being in L.A.,” Porter said during the Clippers’ preseason media day on Monday. “It’s just very beautiful. Just being back, that’s how I’m approaching it (this season.)”
Porter signed a two-year deal with the Clippers in the offseason after the team hired outside experts who investigated the allegations. Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, said in July that the allegations are “serious and they’re disturbing” and that in no way does the team condone or downplay the seriousness of domestic violence.
“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,” Frank said, adding that the team set a development plan for Porter that will hold him accountable for his actions.
Porter said he has adhered to the program and is appreciative of this opportunity, even if it is cut short. The NBA continues to investigate his circumstances and could suspend him this season.
“I’m accountable for whatever comes, the league is going to do what the league does and I’m ready for it,” Porter said. “I’ve been getting ready for this season and nothing else really is going to provoke that.”
Porter said the court-mandated and team programs have helped him learn more about himself, leaving him feeling “like this is the best version of myself.”
“I can’t say everything,” Porter said when asked specifically what he has learned about himself. “But just my upbringing, the triggers and things and with experiences. The meaning of the experience and learning from it.”
Porter grew up in Seattle and was raised by his mother after his father was killed in a shooting when he was 4 years old. He once played basketball with Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s son in recreational leagues.
Porter attended Rainer High, the same high school where his father played, and averaged 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists during his senior year and led his team to the Class 3A state championship. He was named Washington’s Mr. Basketball by the state coaches association.
A top recruit, Porter had several offers but chose USC over schools such as UCLA and Oregon. Andy Enfield, then the coach at USC, said Porter’s potential was evident immediately.
“He was as talented offensively as any player we had seen,” said Enfield, now at SMU. “He had size, athleticism, ball-handling capabilities, could score the ball and make plays for his teammates. He was very impressive.”
A preseason hand injury followed by a deep thigh bruise interrupted his freshman season early. Porter returned from the quadriceps contusion that sidelined him for nine games and scored five points in 25 minutes in his first game back.
Three days later, Porter was suspended indefinitely by USC for undisclosed personal conduct issues. He sat out just two games before Enfield reinstated him and he contributed to the Trojans’ victory against Arizona.
“He was so talented but unfortunately (the injuries) interrupted his trajectory as a freshman and it hurt our team,” Enfield said.
Porter averaged just 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 21 games of his up-and-down lone college season, which caused him to slip to No. 30 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, landing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Less than a month into his professional career, Porter was suspended for making contact with an official.
He began his second season with the Cavs on the inactive list because of a weapons charge, which was later dropped. In January, the team announced Porter would either be traded or released following an outburst over a locker. He was traded three days later to the Houston Rockets.
A change of venue didn’t help Porter as trouble followed him to Houston.
In his first game with the Rockets on March 11, Porter posted 13 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in a loss to the Sacramento Kings. On April 28, he was fined $50,000 for visiting a strip club in Miami, violating the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Porter played only 26 games with the Rockets because of the many conflicts, including a verbal altercation with a teammate and an assistant coach at halftime in January 2022.
A year to the day after Porter signed a four-year, $82.5 million extension, the Rockets traded him to the Thunder after his domestic assault charge. Porter was waived after the trade was completed.
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Despite his baggage, Porter was a versatile scorer and averaged more than 15 points during his four years in the NBA.
“He definitely can make an impact,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Porter. “You don’t get paid $20 million a year in Houston if you can’t play. He’s a great talent. It’s going be my job to make sure we get the best out of him. … He’s a great talent.”
Porter said he never gave up on himself or second chances.
“I always believed in myself,” Porter said. “I know my truth, and I felt like it was good so definitely didn’t count myself out.
“This is the, if not No. 1, top two best jobs you can ask for as an athlete, as a person. So, I’ve seen that get taken away, and then it just puts you in a place with what you want to do for the rest of your life. So, I’m very grateful to be back, and I’m going to do everything I can and stay as long as I want.”
Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. poses for photos during the team’s preseason media day on Monday in Inglewood. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)