Former Breakers player Glen Rice Jr has been allowed to leave the country and return to the United States despite facing a serious violence charge.

The 29-year-old American was arrested last November and charged with assault with intent to injure after an incident at an Auckland bar.

Today, the nearly 2m-tall swingman was due to appear again in the Auckland District Court.

However, he was missing, with rumours circulating that Rice had left New Zealand some time ago.

Rice’s lawyer, Peter Tomlinson, confirmed the situation.

He asked Judge Emma Parsons to excuse his client’s attendance for today’s hearing.

So where was Rice? Texas, his lawyer said.

Tomlinson cited the global Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse for the basketballer’s absence and inability to return to New Zealand and face the charge.

The judge pardoned Rice’s absence from today’s hearing, but also noted the unusual situation of continuing his bail without forcing him to comply with its conditions.

Rice, who has played for the Washington Wizards and was a second-round pick in the 2013 NBA draft, had joined the Breakers just 10 days prior to the alleged assault as an injury replacement.

Just a couple of weeks after his arrest, however, Rice was in trouble again after allegedly breaching his bail conditions. It lead to the Breakers tearing up his contract.

During Rice’s first court appearance, Breakers owner Matt Walsh was sitting alongside him and told media afterwards that the club would let the matter “play out” through the justice system.

The case will be back in court again in August, when a date for a judge-alone trial is to be set. Judge Parsons has already excused Rice’s attendance for that hearing.

Rice, who is the son of former NBA star and champion Glen Rice, has earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Hamilton Accies boss Brian Rice has been charged with breaching Scottish FA gambling rules and says he wrote to the governing body to “self-report”.

The 56-year-old has been accused of breaching the rules in each season from 14 July 2015 to 15 October 2019.

Rice, who has previously admitted to gambling addiction, faces a hearing on 30 January.

“I would like to express my regret to the players, coaching staff and my friends and colleagues,” he said.

Rice, who became Accies head coach in January 2019, described it as a “lapse” in a statement on his club’s website in which Hamilton say they have co-operated fully with the association throughout the investigation period.

He was accused of breaching disciplinary rule 31, which states that “no club, official, team official or other member of team staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall gamble in any way on a football match”.

The former Hibernian, Nottingham Forest and Falkirk midfielder could face a suspension of at least three matches and a maximum of 16 plus a £100,000 fine.

“This decision was one of the hardest I have had to take, but in a way also the easiest,” he said. “I have made no secret of the fact that I have struggled with the disease that is gambling addiction in the past.

“The reality is I am an addict and, while I have been proud of the fact I have been in recovery from this disease, a key part of the recovery programme is honesty: honesty to myself and honesty to those who have and who continue to support me, including my family and my football family at Hamilton.”

It is understood that Rice “reached out” to the SFA about the offences, which have led to one charge for each of the previous five seasons.

“I wrote a letter to the Scottish FA self-reporting my gambling and did so as an admission that my disease has returned in order that I commit to recovery,” he said.

“I accept that a breach of the rules will come with punishment and I accept that. The reason I am speaking out is to remove the stigma attached to this horrible, isolating disease in the hope that those involved in Scottish football who are similarly in its grasp feel they can seek help and draw strength from my admission.

“After committing to recovery I cannot believe that I have found myself back in the grip of gambling addiction, but this disease is not cured with a finite course of treatment.”

Rice’s statement and Hamilton’s support for their head coach have been described as “brave” by Conservative MSP Ruth Davidson, who said on Twitter: “Gambling is a disease and hypocrisy in football is rife – shirt sponsors, FA goals rights sold to betting websites – without acknowledgement of human cost.”