Kevin Porter Jr.; Glenn Consor.Photo: Robert Seale/NBAE via Getty; Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty
An announcer for the Washington Wizards has apologized after making a seemingly inappropriate comment alluding to Houston Rockets' player Kevin Porter Jr.’s late father.
On Wednesday night, 21-year-old Porter Jr. hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer, helping the Rockets defeat the Wizards 114-111.
“You’ve got to give credit,” Glenn Consor, commentating on the NBC Sports Washington broadcast, said after the shot. “Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time.”
According toUSAToday,Porter’s father is Bryan Kevin Porter Sr., who died in 2004 after being shot multiple times while trying to help a woman being attacked at a bar in Seattle. Porter Sr. also spent more than four years in prison for the shooting and death of a 14-year-old girl in 1993.
A clip of the Consor’s comment went viral onsocial mediafollowing the game, drawing the ire of NBA starLeBron James.
“Oh he thought this was cool huh!!?? Nah we ain’t going for this!” James wrote in atweet. “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!
On Thursday morning, Consor released a statement apologizing to Porter Jr. and said he reached out to the player in hopes of speaking with him.
“I mistakenly thought that Kevin was the son of former Washington player Kevin Porter and was unaware that the words I chose to describe his game-winning shot would be in any way hurtful or insensitive,” he added. “I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk with him soon.”
Another Kevin Porter played for Washington — then known as the “Bullets” — during the 1970s.
Porter Jr. has not publicly addressed the comment but celebrated his game-winner on social media last night, which helped the Rockets earn their 11th victory of the season.
“Game,” he wrote onTwitteron Wednesday night.
source: people.com
