Wizards Broadcasters, Surely punishment incoming

[Dino-Might]

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nothing to see here folks.

[Ruzious]

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That should end the issue for him.

[KIRAG]

[raptor jesus]

Abhorrent if this was calculated, but given how unprepared a lot of color analysts seem to be, I can certainly see this comnig from a place of ignorance.

[JonFromVA]

Question ... who in this thread heard about KPJ's father's involvement in the fatal shooting of a 14 year old girl before this thread?

And this was a local broadcast in the DC area. Guessing maybe 2% of the viewers knew about it. Probably less.

It could be far less, give or take certain members of the media who may have known but decided to bury it. I'm a fan of the team that drafted him and we've discussed a lot of dirt about KPJ on various Cavs forums, but this never came up. We just knew he wasn't literally a "junior", that he tacked that on to his own name in honor of his father.

[JimmyPlopper]

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That should end the issue for him.

Good lesson for everyone here. Give people the benefit of the doubt every once in awhile.

[High 5]

Not sure how anybody can listen to that and assume that it's somehow a mistake. The guy picked his words very carefully. "Pulled the trigger at the right time" how the hell would that even apply if his father was an ex-NBA player? You ever hear Dell Curry get referenced like that re: Steph?

“Pull the trigger” is a very common phrase in sports.

[Thugleavy34]

Question ... who in this thread heard about KPJ's father's involvement in the fatal shooting of a 14 year old girl before this thread?

Nobody lol

A lot of people actually. Especially given he just had that blowup earlier this week. There was a full thread here fairly recently in which his upbringing was discussed.

[ImSlower]

Question ... who in this thread heard about KPJ's father's involvement in the fatal shooting of a 14 year old girl before this thread?

And this was a local broadcast in the DC area. Guessing maybe 2% of the viewers knew about it. Probably less.

It could be far less, give or take certain members of the media who may have known but decided to bury it. I'm a fan of the team that drafted him and we've discussed a lot of dirt about KPJ on various Cavs forums, but this never came up. We just knew he wasn't literally a "junior", that he tacked that on to his own name in honor of his father.

I knew incredibly little about Kevin Porter Jr. before seeing this thread. Only that I read a heartbreaking story - I think on the Athletic? - about his father's rough life and how he idolized him, adding the Jr and all, despite his father being objectively a tough role model to root for, and that he killed someone in a bar fight and was later killed himself. I literally know nothing about his NBA career except that he's a hothead.

Last night reading this article, I assumed the worst- but I knew only about the tragedy and not Kevin Porter the 70s player. It sounds like the commentator isn't the type to make such a shocking comment, that in the DC area a fellow of his age would be much more likely to know the ex-NBA player and not KPJ's father's history, and the mixup was a truly regrettable coincidence.

[mccluskey]

May be funny to some people, just saying, pretty soon, everything will be muted live

Let me find the darkest moments of your life and make a joke live in front of millions so we can laugh.

I am sure I'll find something funny.

well, I agree there's a time and a place for attempting edgy humor, and this was a completely wrong place for it. I don't think the guy should be fired but a reprimand/suspension might be in order (assuming it turns out to not be an honest mistake like others have mentioned).

but that said, sometimes people make bad or stupid jokes - for a variety of reasons from being tone-deaf to trying too hard - but we don't have to burn them at the stake for it. We can just say "that's not funny, you're being a jerk" and move on with our lives.

[KembaWalker]

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That should end the issue for him.

But we all know it won't. Once there's blood in the water these people don't let up. LeBron definitely won't

[matt6715]

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That should end the issue for him.

The classic "oh **** they caught me" apology

[Nate505]

There is absolutely no chance he was talking about his father and what happened. This is a case of mistaken identity. He should have looked it up, but this is very obviously an honest mistake.

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The ironic thing in all of this are the people who are calling for this guy's head, they themselves not knowing there was a good Kevin Porter who used to play in the league.

Great, now that jackass is getting involved.

"I want to destroy your livelihood, but I'll pray for ya!"

**** jackass.

[GSWFan1994]

Your best case scenario here is that this announcer did zero research and just assumed a player for a visiting team was related to a guy that played for the home team 40 years ago. A fact he likely didn’t reference or verify at any other point until literally the last shot of the game. Just call a spade a spade, dude.

Well said. The best defense for this is "he didn't do his job".

There's 2 scenarios here. Either he decided to risk his job for a joke, knowing the history of KPJ father or he made a mistake. If this announcer doesn't have a history of this type of behavior, why wouldn't you give him the benefit of the doubt?

Well said.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt in today's social-media focused society is now a thing of the past.

People are instantly malicious and convicted criminals, and any kind of defense they may want is obviously denied and put to rest.

[ItsDanger]

LOL, many L's were served on this day,.

[tekkon]

I would be disappointed if he is fired. It's clearly a mistake, born out of just assuming things and not looking into them.

He apologized, let's move on.

[GSWFan1994]

Also worth noting is that the "original" Kevin Porter was not a bad player for the Wizards (then Bullets I think)... far from that.

He played 6 seasons there, notably leading the whole league in assists in the same season the Washington team won the Eastern Conference (1974/1975 season), then losing to the Warriors in the Finals.

He was a key player for them. Obviously many team fans have fond memories of him.

So, just by reading some posts above mine, that's what happened... a misunderstanding, which many SJW sharks took as an opportunity to virtue signal all around the internet.

That's to be expected in society nowadays, unfortunately.

[xAIRNESSx]

Complaining about imminent cancellation or "cancel culture" is becoming so much more prominent and dominant in our society that actual cancellations.

Doesn't mean the threat of being cancelled isn't a real thing.

Okay....?

What point were you trying to make?

[wojoaderge]

If a Wizards announcer doesn't know that Kevin Porter isn't Kevin Porter Jr.'s dad, then he's pretty unprofessional/ignorant

How did it make sense in his head that a player from the 70’s fathered a now 21 year old kid? Either the joke, or that level of incompetence is worthy of firing him.

Btw, anything happened to Azubuike and his horrible British Mexican accent?

I mean... there's a million reasons people make innocent mistakes every day. At that moment, maybe he was thinking of Wes Matthews, Jr and Sr - Wes Sr being a former Bullet and Jr being a current Buck. People make mistakes. That doesn't mean they're racist or incompetent. It's part of being human.

He's been in the Wizards organization for 22 years. Kevin Porter Jr. had played against the Wizards 5 times before last night.

[GSWFan1994]

Great, now that jackass is getting involved.

"I want to destroy your livelihood, but I'll pray for ya!"

**** jackass.

Here in my country (Brazil) there's an expression for that: "ódio do bem" (good hate).

Just another example that the revolutionary mindset is a corrosion of the character.