I have been a sports fan all my life. I have lived in the San Antonio/Austin area since 2000 with few exceptions. My two favorite sports are NBA basketball and tennis. My two favorite players in any sport are Tim Duncan and Roger Federer. My favorite team in any sport is the San Antonio Spurs although that has waned since the big 3 retired (Tony left but has since retired). Gregg Popovich has shown himself until now to be a great person as well as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA. He was an outspoken critic of the former guy and an advocate for progressive views. He was the first to hire a female coach for an NBA team. To be fair, Dr. Cauthen, the victim, doesn’t seem to directly fault him. However, given Popovich’s larger than life role in the Spurs, it’s difficult to avoid finding him responsible along with the organization. I don’t find the excuses offered credible and I find Dr. Cauthen completely credible. Is it possible that I am wrong? It is, but does it not seem unlikely that the Spurs did nothing wrong? I don’t buy that at all. Primo has multiple women accusing him of exposing himself to them.
Here is a link to the ESPN article .
The San Antonio Spurs' release of guard Joshua Primo -- the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NBA draft -- stemmed from multiple alleged instances of him exposing himself to women, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
The decision to release Primo on Friday night was sudden and shocking, and it spoke to the severity of the issues surrounding the promising 19-year old player.
The team had recently picked up the $4.3 million 2023-24 option on Primo's contract, signifying a level of confidence in his future with the franchise.
To say that the Spurs have struggled since the big 3 retired/Tony Parker left is an understatement. They operate in a smaller media market than other franchises and that makes it difficult to attract free agents. They have done just well enough to not get a high draft pick and bad enough to either not make the playoffs or be bounced out in the first round. They finally had a lottery pick, a chance at a player believed to be so good that the player alone could turn out a franchise’s fortunes. They went boom or bust in that Primo is very young; his ceiling was very high but his floor was lower than that of other players drafted in the same area (late lottery pick). He was viewed by them to have a lot of talent and potential. For them to part ways with him shows that they realized their culpability in this affair is great.
Also on Saturday, attorney Tony Buzbee told ESPN he has been retained by a woman who worked for the Spurs and has alleged Primo exposed himself to her.
Many NBA teams remain intrigued with Primo's talent and potential, but are searching for a more complete understanding of the situation
Here is a local network writing of the situation.
GO SPURS GO!
Spurs facing lawsuit over response to allegations of sexual misconduct by Josh Primo, accuser's attorney says
Attorney Tony Buzbee is representing Dr. Hillary Cauthen, a sports psychologist who worked with the Spurs.
HOUSTON — The Spurs and Josh Primo are facing a lawsuit after a former team psychologist accused Primo of exposing himself to her, and accused the team of failing to protect her as the conduct continued before they decided not to renew her contract.
"Dr. Hillary Cauthen, a licensed, credentialed clinical psychologist, lost her dream job because the Spurs organization ignored her repeated reports of indecent exposure on the part of Defendant Joshua Primo," begins the suit filed in Bexar County on Monday by attorney Tony Buzbee.
The lawsuit says that in one of Cauthen's first sessions with Primo in December of 2021, he exposed his penis to her.
"Unfortunately, despite Dr. Cauthen's reports, such exposures happened on numerous occasions and grew progressively more extreme," the lawsuit states, adding that he exposed himself to her a total of nine times, many in private therapy sessions held in the Spurs' facilities or at a visiting arena.
It says that Cauthen tried to get a meeting with Spurs General Manager Brian Wright in January 2022, and made it clear what the meeting was about.
"The meeting, when finally scheduled, was postponed multiple times.
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This is so wrong that it’s staggering. Nine times. Repeated postponements. Refusal to act or do anything about it. Then they told her, the victim, Dr. Cauthen, that the team “had lost confidence in her”. I am livid. There are two things that almost everybody who lives in San Antonio agree on, a love for the military (San Antonio is a military town) and a love for the San Antonio Spurs. They have won five NBA championships. They had been known for being a high character / integrity organization. There are no other professional sports team at the top level besides the Spurs. However, San Antonio is very much a family town with strong Catholic beliefs and values. I don’t see much of the fan base being willing to overlook this. RC Buford, the GM, has been well-respected even if not as much as Gregg Popovich. How could this happen without Popovich hearing about it and if he heard about it with an unbiased mind, then how could he not have addressed this forcefully immediately? Why have leaders like former players including David Robinson and Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich not spoken out about this and condemned the organization and those who tried to cover it up? If Primo had not been a lottery draft pick and potential NBA star, would he have been protected like this? The answer is no.