Former Spurs doctor has filed a lawsuit against Josh Primo and the Spurs

Last week, former San Antonio Spurs player Josh Primo was waived by the team following accusations that he had exposed himself to women. The main victim was later revealed to former team psychiatrist, Dr. Hillary Cauthen, who held a press conference this morning with Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee. They confirmed a lawsuit has been filed against Primo and the Spurs organization, claiming they ignored her repeated reports of indecent exposure by Primo, dating as far back as December 2021.

During the broadcast of Buzbee and Cauthen’s press conference with the media, Cauthen detailed that after reporting the first incident in January of 2022, she did not get a meeting with Spurs General Manager Brian Wright until March of 2022. In that meeting, she was told there would be an internal investigation and consequences for Primo. In the meantime, the organization called upon her to keep treating Primo and other players. His alleged misconduct further escalated, at which point Cauthen found ways to avoid sessions with Primo. In a later meeting with Spurs Counsel Brandon James and Human Resources head Kara Allen, they told Cauthen they wanted to set up a “facilitated discussion” with her and Primo to find the root causes of the incident. That meeting never happened, and when she expressed her discomfort with his inappropriate behavior, she was told to work from home.

The lawsuit also states that in June, James and Allen informed Cauthen that Gregg Popovich “was aware of her complaint and accusations and that he wanted to do right by her.” (This was the only mention of Pop in the lawsuit.) They also told her that Primo would continue participating in team activities, and later, that she would not be attending the Las Vegas Summer League due to a “lack of trust between her and the team”. Eventually, the Spurs decided not to renew her contract with the organization.

The lawsuit also lists at least two other incidents of indecent exposure by Primo, one in Las Vegas and again last week in Minnesota. The Minnesota incident was then allegedly leaked by someone inside the organization, which triggered the Spurs’ waiving of Primo before the media reported it first.

Primo’s Response

For his part, Primo continues to maintain his innocence and has hired attorney William J. Briggs, II as his legal representation. In a statement to the media, Briggs claims that Primo has suffered a lifetime of trauma, which he is in the process of being treated for. He says Primo never intentionally exposed himself, but if he did it was a wardrobe malfunction, and alleges that Cauthen never told Primo it was happening.

No matter what, this is a bad look for the Spurs organization, especially Wright. At worst they ignored allegations of sexual misconduct, at best they completely mishandled the situation. There’s no telling where this will go from here, but it’s not hard to imagine there will be plenty of shake-ups in the front office and human resources departments at a minimum. We will keep you informed as more information comes out.