The injuries Sterling Brown suffered during a violent attack outside a Miami strip club this week were MUCH worse than originally reported -- he was rushed to the emergency room while bleeding profusely and some teammates feared for his life.
It's all spelled out in a bombshell report by The Athletic ... which details how the Houston Rockets player was badly beaten outside the Booby Trap strip club in Miami early Monday morning.
According to the report, Brown accidentally got in the wrong vehicle on the way out of the club -- and the people inside didn't take too kindly to the mix-up.
The men reportedly launched a vicious attack on Brown -- cracking him in the head with a liquor bottle ... which opened up gashes all over his face.
Brown's teammate, Kevin Porter, Jr., reportedly took action and tried to rescue Brown ... but suffered his own injuries in the process. Porter's injuries were minor ... and he ended up playing Monday night.
Brown, on the other hand, is still in very bad shape -- one source told The Athletic, "His face is jacked up."
Brown required "multiple heavy stitching jobs for his facial injuries," according to the Athletic -- which describes the scene at the hospital this way, "blood was everywhere."
One source summed it up this way ... "If he hadn’t been as physically strong and tough, he might not have made it out of the situation ... He could have died.”
Despite the severity of the injuries, Brown has since been discharged from the hospital ... and has returned to Houston for more treatment.
The Miami police are reportedly looking into the incident ... and the team is expecting the NBA to launch a full investigation.