
After the San Antonio Spurs waived Josh Primo before Friday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls, fans were left wondering why. As shocking as it was to see a rising star talent get suddenly waived, fans started to notice Primo-centered posts on Spurs’ social media pages were being deleted in addition to his merch.
Many were bracing themselves for terrible news. Around 6 pm on Saturday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski took to Twitter with breaking news. ESPN reporting with Romona Shelburne: “The San Antonio Spurs’ release of guard Primo – the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft – stemmed from multiple alleged instances of Primo exposing himself to women.”
Spurs have waived Josh Primo
— Project Spurs (@projectspurs) October 28, 2022
Primo was the #12 pick in the 2021 draft #NBA pic.twitter.com/EwglpsYKUP
The Latest Josh Primo Updates
With allegations as serious as multiple instances of sexual assault, the front office did the right thing in waiving Primo. This is likely to be a long-drawn-out legal and civil matter for the former guard. With many details still under wraps, and the assumption that further victims will step forward, here is what we know.
Reporting with @wojespn The San Antonio Spurs’ release of guard Josh Primo – the No. 12 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft — stemmed from multiple alleged instances of Primo exposing himself to women. https://t.co/4qV7FzmkNI
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) October 29, 2022
1. A former Spurs employee has accused Primo of exposing himself to her. The victim has hired attorney Tony Buzbee to represent her in this matter. This was first reported by Shams Charania.
Sources: A former Spurs female employee has alleged that guard Josh Primo exposed himself to her, and she has hired attorney Tony Buzbee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 29, 2022
Buzbee represented the women in the sexual misconduct lawsuits against NFL QB Deshaun Watson.
2. After making the statement of Primo’s waiver the Spurs organization removed his merch from their stores. Primo-centered posts have been scrubbed from their social media pages.
3. This wasn’t an isolated incident, as reported by Romona Shelburne. So there will be more to come out.
Updates November 3, 2022
- During the 11-2-22 game against the Toronto Raptors, TMZ released a report from sources close to Primo saying that he never intentionally exposed himself to his accuser, Dr. Hillary Cauthen.
- 11-3-22 Attorney Tony Buzzbee and Dr. Cauthen held a Press conference, stating that a criminal complaint was files with Bexar County against Primo.
- Buzzbee and Dr. Cauthen stated that the Spurs knew about Primo’s alleged activity for 10 months before he was waived. They also claim that Spurs’ Brian Wright promised to do an investigation and bring punitive actions against Primo while she was still employed with the Spurs, to the best of her knowledge it never happened.
- Buzzbee, brought allegations that Primo had another incident in Las Vegas during the Summer league.
- Buzzbee said, he believes that the alleged incident in Minneapolis was the final straw for the Spurs leading to Primo being waived.
- San Antonio Express News’ Tom Orsborn reports the lawsuit alleges Primo exposed his genitals to Dr. Cauthen nine times.
Lawsuit alleges Primo exposed his genitals nine times to Cauthen during "individual private sessions" despite her numerous complaints about Primo's improper sexual conduct to the organization's leadership.
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) November 3, 2022
Possible Minneapolis Incident
Before the news on the severity of the situation was made aware to the public a Reddit user alleged there was an incident while the team was in Minneapolis. Reddit user Affectionate-Neat308 posted:
“Nobody is gonna believe this, but I know someone who works at the four seasons in Minneapolis and apparently he exposed himself to housekeeping.”
A Reddit thread is not a reliable news source, but there is a possibility. The timing of the post is what lends to its credibility as it was posted the day before ESPN published it. We’ll be keeping an eye on this and see if it turns out to be true.
In case you might question this Josh Primo report, someone on @Reddit called this yesterday. https://t.co/8hssYKN4vW pic.twitter.com/itdSXm1Bog
— Michael Board (@MikeBoard1200) October 29, 2022
Good Riddance
If there’s one thing we learned from the Ime Udoka situation before the start of the season it’s that in these situations information leaks slowly.
Unfortunately, it’s possible there are several victims. The Spurs made the correct decision to waive Primo. As of this writing, The NBA has not released a statement or taken punitive actions toward the young guard. Primo’s contract is still claimable by other NBA teams until Monday. He will still make $4.3 million for next season.
As more information unfolds, we’ll keep you updated on what it means for the victims and the Spurs Organization.