ESPN’s John Anderson apologizes for joking indigenous NHL player’s name sounded like a ‘toilet paper brand’

SportsCenter anchor John Anderson apologized for a joke made about Vegas Golden Knights player Zach Whitecloud.

During a highlight segment on SportsCenter, Anderson quipped about Whitecloud’s last name. Little did Anderson, or perhaps a lot of people, know, Whitecloud is the first Indigenous NHL player from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

So when Anderson compared his name to toilet paper, we’re not kidding, it came off disingenuous.

“Zach Whitecloud — what kind of name is Whitecloud?,” Anderson said during Whitecloud’s highlight. “Great name if you’re a toilet paper.”

Toilet paper and someone’s last name. Probably not the smartest move in general, but since Whitecloud has an Indigenous background, it came off worse.

Anderson later apologized for his comments about Whitecloud.

“This is totally on me and I sincerely apologize to Zach, the Golden Knights, their fans and everyone else for what I said,” Anderson wrote. “It’s my job to be prepared and know the backgrounds of the players and I blew it. I will be reaching out to the team to personally apologize and hope to have the opportunity to speak to Zach as well.”

Whitecloud has yet to respond to Anderosn’s comments or apologies.

Oakland A’s broadcast Glen Kuiper suspended after racial slur

Anderson wasn’t the only broadcaster in hot water following comments about Whitecloud. Oakland A’s broadcaster Glen Kuiper was suspended after using a racial slur during a TV broadcast-open.

The suspension appears to be indefinite until the network can finish its review of the comment, which Kuiper made Friday. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news.

The incident happened Friday during pre-game of a MLB broadcast between the A’s and the Kansas City Royals. Glen Kuiper was talking about a tour he’d taken of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which is in K.C. Kuiper was chatting with A’s TV analyst Dallas Braden, when he said: “We had a phenomenal day today. (N-word) league museum. And Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque.”

Kuiper apologized on air in the sixth inning. He said “Welcome back to Kauffman Stadium. I just want to…a little bit earlier in the show. I said something, didn’t come out quite the way…I wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. Like I said, I just wanted to apologize for that.”

Whether it’s Anderson with Whitecloud or Kuiper’s, apparent, slip of the tongue, perhaps a lot of broadcasters need to take a step back. By step back, we mean choose those words carefully, especially if it’s a scripted segment.