Mar 5, 2020; Sacramento, California, USA; A general view of the Sacramento Kings video board displaying Equality Night before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer placed on leave after tweeting 'All Lives Matter'

By Blake Harper | Last updated 6/2/20

Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear has been placed on leave by KHTK, the radio station he works for, after tweeting out 'All Lives Matter' during a discussion with former Kings player Boogie Cousins.

Cousins tweeted at Napear over the weekend, asking him for his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement. The announcer responded, "Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven't heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER...EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!"

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

Napear quickly received criticism for the tweet, while Cousins said that he wasn't surprised by Napear's statement. Former Kings players Matt Barnes and Chris Webber both also took to Twitter to say that Napear's statement was unexpected, with Barnes writing that he would "expect nothing less from closet racists." Meanwhile, Webber implied that the Kings were complicit in keeping Napear around despite knowing about his outdated views on race.

"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."

Would expect nothing less from a closet racists
— Matt Barnes (@Matt_Barnes22) June 1, 2020

Napear was placed on leave by KHTK and the Kings announced that they would be reviewing his statements, along with examining the franchise's relationship with him."

"Grant's recent Twitter comments do not reflect our organization's views and values," the Kings said in a released statement. "We are reviewing the matter further with our broadcast partners NBC Sports California and Sports 1140 KHTK."

For his part, Napear attempted to apologize on Twitter and further tried to express his remorse to The Sacramento Bee.

"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 is trying to get across."

This is not the first time Napear has been criticized for his comments regarding race, as he previously defended Donald Sterling, saying that the Clippers owner couldn't be racist since he employed black people.

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