Napear out as announcer for Kings, also done with talk show
Grant Napear, the longtime TV voice of the Sacramento Kings and a popular radio host in Sacramento for more than two decades, is done with both his jobs in the aftermath of a controversial Sunday night tweet.
In response to a tweet from ex-Sacramento King DeMarcus Cousins, Napear tweeted that, “ALL LIVES MATTER. EVERY SINGLE ONE.” The two have a long history of tense relations. Cousins asked in a tweet what Napear thought about Black Lives Matter, the civil group protesting police brutality.
Bonneville International Corporation, which owns Sports 1140 KHTK, which aired “The Grant Napear Show,” issued a statement Tuesday saying: “The timing of Grant’s tweet was particularly insensitive. After reviewing the matter carefully, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with Grant.”
“His recent comments about the Black Lives Matter movement do not reflect the views or values of Bonneville International Corporation,” the statement says.
As soon as he made the tweet, Napear was criticized by hundreds of people — and other former ex-players — for repeating a phrase many use to devalue the message of BLM.
Napear said he was unaware of the political ramifications of his tweet. He 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 unsur-
prised 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.
NBC Sports California, the regional network that broadcasts Kings’ games, released a statement Monday.
“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 started in 1988 as the Kings play-by-play announcer. 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.