Announcer in hot water over Porter remark
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. and his teammates celebrated his game-winning 3-pointer Wednesday, viewers of the local broadcast heard a Wizards announcer make a stunning reference to Porter’s late father.
“You’ve got to give credit,” announcer Glenn Consor said. “Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time.”
Porter’s father served four years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of a 14-yearold girl before his namesake son was born. He was shot and killed when his son was 4 years old.
Porter has been careful throughout his career as a player to be referred to as Kevin Porter Jr. in his father’s memory.
As the story took off on social media, Lakers star LeBron
James commented on his Twitter account.
“Oh he thought this was cool huh!!??” James tweeted. “Sorry but this ain’t going to fly! How insensitive can you be to say something like this. Beat it man! I pray for you but there’s no place in our beautiful game for you.!”
Consor later issued an apology on his social media accounts.
“Please allow me to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to Kevin Porter Jr., his family and the Rockets organization for the comments I made during last night’s game,” Consor wrote. “I mistakenly thought that Kevin was the sone of former Washington player Kevin Porter and was unaware that the words I chose to describe his game-winning shot would in in any way hurtful or insensitive. I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk with him soon.”
Consor said he confused Porter for a former NBA player Kevin Porter, who played six of his 10 NBA seasons in Washington in the 1970s and 80s.
The former Washington guard Kevin Porter was not known for his shooting. He was a brilliant passer, averaging 8.1 assists per game in his career. The 3-pointer was not introduced in the NBA until Porter’s eighth season and he made three in his career.
Porter is 71 years old so to be the father of the player that made Wednesday’s game-winning shot, he would have had to be 50 when the Rockets guard was born.
Assistant Green set to end retirement
Rockets player development assistant Gerald Green plans to come out of retirement to attempt an NBA comeback by playing through the G League, a person with knowledge of his plans said.
Green was not eligible to play for the Rockets this season because he was already on the staff, but he has expressed interest in playing while many players had signed COVID hardship 10-day contracts. There could be a possibility that he would play for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Green, 35, played 12 NBA seasons with eight teams after entering the NBA out of Gulf Shores Academy in 2005 as a first-round draft pick of the Boston Celtics. He averaged 9.7 points in his career, including 10.2 in two stints with the Rockets, including the final two seasons of his career before he suffered a foot injury in a preseason game in Japan in 2019.