Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear has been placed on administrative leave.
Sacramento Kings‘ play-by-play announcer has been placed on administrative leave by Sports 1140 KHTK, the team’s broadcasting partner, following an exchange with former Kings centerDeMarcus Cousinson Twitter.
As first reported on Monday by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee, Napear got into a social media altercation with Cousins regarding theBlack Lives Mattermovement.
The well-known “Voice of the Kings” received backlash for his comments from numerous other former Kings players includingMatt BarnesandChris Webberwho each expressed their disagreement with Napear’s statement.
Below is the original tweet sent by Napear.
Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven't heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER...EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!https://t.co/DfzKl3w0jm
— Grant Napear (@GrantNapearshow)June 1, 2020
Now here is what both Webber and Barnes had to say about Napear’s comments.
Demarcus we know and have known who grant is. The team knows as well. I’ve told them many times. They’ve seen it. They know who he is. 🤡🤡https://t.co/4DI4f1DGUp
— Chris Webber (@realchriswebber)June 1, 2020
Would expect nothing less from a closet racists
— Matt Barnes (@Matt_Barnes22)June 1, 2020
Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear and DeMarcus Cousins have history.
This isn’t the first run in Napear and Cousins have had with each other as the two have infamously been feuding for years.Cousins had some choice wordsfor Napear during a game back in 2013 after the announcer had criticized him on his radio show.
That wasn’t their first encounter and it certainly wasn’t their last either. When Cousins ripped
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Toronto Raptors fans for cheering aboutGolden State Warriors‘ teammateKevin Durant‘s Achilles injury in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Napear weighed in as well.
Napear called out Cousins sayingthat “if there is any player in the NBA that should not be talking about fan behavior, and about how to treat athletes as opposed to people, it’s DeMarcus Cousins.”
The 60-year-old was previously criticized following his defense of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling back in 2015 following comments Sterling made to a woman he was dating at the time.
Napear did apologize for his comments to Cousins later on Twitter with the following tweet.
If it came across as dumb I apologize. That was not my intent. That's how I was raised. It has been engrained in me since I can remember. I've been doing more listening than talking the past few days. I believe the past few days will change this country for the better!https://t.co/Gsh84BPBEk
— Grant Napear (@GrantNapearshow)June 1, 2020
However, this didn’t change KHTK’s decision and the network has officially placed him on administrative leave for the time being.
The Kings later released a statement regarding the issue indicating that Napear’s comments do not reflect the views of the organization and that they are in the process of reviewing the matter.
Statement from Kings on Grant Napear:
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA)June 2, 2020
“Grant’s recent Twitter comments do not reflect our organization’s views and values. We are reviewing the matter further with our broadcast partners NBC Sports California and Sports 1140 KHTK.”
It remains to be seen if Napear will be punished further and if he will still be calling Kings games come next season.
But for now, he’ll be forced to remain on administrative leave.
*Update: Napear has since been fired by KHTK and resigned as the Kings’ play-by-play announcer*
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