Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear suspended for Black Lives Matter remarks
KHTK radio host and Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear has been placed on administrative leave following remarks about the Black Lives Matter movement during a Twitter exchange with former Kings star DeMarcus Cousins.
“The Grant Napear Show” opened without the familiar voice of its host Monday as program director Jason Ross read a statement from Sports 1140 KHTK and Bonneville International Corporation, the station’s parent company.
“Grant Napear has been placed on administrative leave while we are investigating the statement that was made on Twitter,” Ross said.
Ross went on to open the show with Jay Johnson. They were later joined by former Kings guard Doug Christie, who co-hosts Napear’s afternoon radio show and partners with him as a color commentator during Kings television broadcasts on NBC Sports California. Christie spoke in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but he did not address Napear’s absence.
The Kings released a statement about the move Monday evening.
“Grant’s recent Twitter comments do not reflect our organization’s views and values,” the team said. “We are reviewing the matter further with our broadcast partners NBC Sports California and Sports 1140 KHTK.”
NBC Sports California, the regional network that broadcasts Kings’ games, also released a statement.
“Our company values and honors inclusion and equality. Racism, injustice and violence run counter to everything we stand for and cannot be tolerated in our society,” the network said. “Grant Napear’s recent comments on Twitter do not reflect the views of NBC Sports California. We’ve spoken to Grant’s employer, the Sacramento Kings, about the matter.”
Napear apologized in an interview with Bee columnist Marcos Breton on Monday morning, saying he planned to apologize during his afternoon show as well.
“I’m not as educated on BLM as I thought I was,” Napear said. “I had no idea that when I said ‘All Lives Matter’ that it was counter to what BLM was trying to get across.”
The controversy was sparked Sunday evening when a Twitter exchange between Napear and Cousins led to responses from former Kings Chris Webber and Matt Barnes, among hundreds of other social media users. Napear and Cousins have a contentious history. Napear once called Cousins the “crudest, most vile player that I have ever been around in my 31 years in the NBA.”
During a weekend of unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Cousins directed a tweet at Napear, prodding him for his take on the Black Lives Matter movement. Napear responded: “Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven’t heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER. … EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!”
Cousins was seemingly unsurprised Napear would assert that “all lives matter,” a phrase commonly viewed as dismissive to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Lol as expected,” Cousins replied.
Webber joined the discussion Monday morning.
“Demarcus we know and have known who grant is,” Webber tweeted. “The team knows as well. I’ve told them many times. They’ve seen it. They know who he is.”
Webber punctuated the tweet with two clown emojis.
Barnes weighed in on Napear’s response to Cousins, too.
“Would expect nothing less from a closet racist,” Barnes tweeted.
Napear has served as the Kings play-by-play announcer since 1988. He previously generated criticism when he suggested disgraced former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling could not be considered racist because he employed black people.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
