Sacramento Kings Announcer Forced To Resign Following Flippant ‘All Lives Matter’ Tweet Speaks Out On Being Called A ‘Closet Racist’

Sacramento Kings TV play-by-play announcer Grant Napear has been the voice of the Kings for three decades.

The 60-year-old is on the board of the FUTURE Foundation of Sacramento, which provides college scholarships for those in need of financial aid. For 25 years, he’s hosted a golf tournament raising funds for underprivileged. His late father, Bert, fought for civil rights on Long Island.

Still, in the witch hunt world of social media, flippancy is valued more than legacy.

With just three words, after being baited by former King DeMarcus Cousins, Napear was not only forced to resign from the Kings, but he was also fired from his own radio show, The Greg Napear Show.

Former Kings players Chris Webber and Matt Barnes piled on, with Webber calling Napear a “clown” and Barnes flat-out saying he’s a “closet racist.” The allegations may stem from a tweet in 2018 in which Napear agreed with a Twitter user who said they didn’t want to see protests at football games.

Sports radio personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who’s known Napear since he was a kid in Long Island, put his reputation on the line to vouch for Napear:

“To say that Grant Napear is a racist is absurd. In my knowledge of him … Grant Napear, trust me when I say this, this is me, is anything but a racist.”

Napear, fighting back tears multiple times, spoke to the New York Post about the tweet that lead to his demise.

“I don’t want to call it a mistake. I don’t even know what adjective to describe it.”

Napear passionately defended himself against the claim that he was trying to belittle the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It makes me feel sick to my stomach because it is absolutely the opposite of who I am,” he said. “I am 60 years old. I will let the track record of my life and what I’ve done for my community and what I’ve done. … People who know me, of all races, I’ll let them tell the story.”

The now unemployed announcer claims that Cousins’ disdain for him is the product of the criticism Napear assigned Cousins during his time in Sacramento.

“He was constantly in trouble, getting into suspensions. He was a very volatile personality. And I had a talk show and so there were times I had to be critical of him. I’m sure he did not appreciate my criticism.”

In 2019, Napear called Cousins “the rudest, crudest, most vile player that I have ever been around in my 31 years in the NBA,” after Cousins cursed out Raptors fans who cheered the injury of Kevin Durant during the Finals.

“I have not once in my 32 years in doing the Sacramento Kings had any individual from either the radio station or the Kings mention anything in any way, shape or form about me and my relations with minorities, with any other group of people,” Napear said. “That is an absolute disgrace that that would ever be said. That is an absolute disgrace.”

Napear said he also has criticized Webber on and off the court, and claimed Webber and Cousins were “two of the most sensitive athletes” he’s ever been around.

As far as what’s next for the disgraced announcer, he doesn’t know, “just trying to get through today.”

[h/t New York Post]