Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear was suspended from his sports-radio talk show after making remarks on social media over the weekend in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Napear was not on the air Monday for “The Grant Napear Show” on Sacramento’s KHTK radio.
“Grant Napear has been placed on administrative leave while we are investigating the statement that was made on Twitter,” operations manager Jason Ross said on the air Monday.
At the end of a public Twitter exchange with former Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins, Napear wrote, “ALL LIVES MATTER. … EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!”
The tweet came during a weekend of unrest throughout the United States after the May 25 death of George Floyd, who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer held him down with a knee to his neck.
Substituting “All Lives Matter” for “Black Lives Matter” is perceived as a way to negate the grievances that the black community is trying to expose.
“I’m not as educated on BLM as I thought I was,” Napear told the Sacramento Bee. “I had no idea that when I said ‘All Lives Matter’ that it was counter to what BLM was trying to get across.”
The Twitter exchange caught the attention of former Kings players Chris Webber and Matt Barnes.
“Demarcus we know and have known who grant is,” Webber tweeted to Cousins. “The team knows as well. I’ve told them many times. They’ve seen it. They know who he is. (two clown emojis)”
Cousins responded to Webber with a hands-clapping emoji.
Barnes tweeted, “Would expect nothing less from a closet racists”
Napear then attempted to explain his stance, tweeting, “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!”
Napear, the Kings’ play-by-play broadcaster for more than 30 years, previously drew negative attention when suggested that former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was not racist because black people worked for the team.
