Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James addressed a comment made by Wizards announcer Glenn Concer during Wednesday night's contest between the Washington and Houston Rockets, tweeting after criticizing Conner earlier on Thursday. “Could he have made a mistake? Absolutely,” said James. “But in our job and in our field, as professionals, we are in a professional league, you have to do your due diligence and do your job to the extent That's why he said that at the end of that game. , Otherwise too?"
With time running out in the Rockets' game against the Wizards on Wednesday night, Houston's Kevin Porter Jr. dribbled beyond the arc, waiting for a chance at a buzzer-beating shot to break the 111-111 tie. As Raul Neto leapt up, he made a 3 swipe to seal the Rockets' win, prompting Conner to offer commentary.
“Kevin Porter Jr., like his father, pulled that trigger at the right time at the right time,” he said.
Porter's father, Brian Kevin Porter Sr., pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 1993 shooting death of a 14-year-old girl. He died of a gunshot wound in 2004 when his son was four years old. Concor's words sparked immediate outrage on social media, with several NBA players including James.
"Oh he thought it was cool, huh!!?? No we're not going for it! Sorry, but it's not going to fly! How insensitive can you be to say something like that. Hit man! I'm your But there's no place for you in our beautiful game!" James wrote in a tweet.
Concor apologized Thursday morning: "I mistakenly thought Kevin was the son of former Washington (Bullets) player Kevin Porter and was unaware that the words I had chosen to describe his game-winning shot, They would be hurt or insensitive in any way," he wrote in a Twitter post.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday after Connor's apology, James said he stuck to his tweets from day one.
"We will continue to protect our players, and ... he (Consor is) supposed to be a very smart guy, isn't he?" James said. "Is everyone saying that? The guy is very smart. So if you are a very smart person, I believe you should be able to do your homework on the circumstances."
He continued: "So if you're doing your homework on one of these kids in this league, the word he used for that kid was the shot that won the game, the sentence that he Even if he knows he was his father or not, he should never have been used before. ... And if you know the history of this child's father, you don't sit here and tell me these words Can - it's just a direct connection."
James pointed out that, like players, announcers are given scouting reports on opposing teams. He also cast doubt on Concor's claim that he thought Porter's father was Kevin Porter who played for the Washington Bullets in the 1970s.
"The first thing I would have done (after seeing Porter's name on the Rockets roster), I would have said, 'Oh, Kevin Porter Jr. is coming to town, let me see if that's his son.' I would have done that due diligence way earlier."
James pointed to several players who share the name with their father and are men they are not even related to - Isaiah and Isiah Thomas, Mike James, Patrick Sureten Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr. He said he did his research to find out who was related to whom and hoped broadcasters would do the same.
James was clear that he was not calling for Kanker's job. He called the language a "slip-up" and explained that it was the biggest moment in Porter's NBA career so far.
"That was the biggest moment ever for that kid in his youth NBA career," James said. "Why are we talking about this? Why are we talking about this? This kid made a game-winner, Stepback 3."
0 Comments