Kevin Porter Jr. hit a dagger on Wednesday night to help the Houston Rockets defeat the Washington Wizards. But the game-winning play was overshadowed when one of the Wizards’ commentators made an inappropriate reference to Porter Jr.’s late father.
“You’ve got to give credit. Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time,” Glenn Consor said on the broadcast. For context, Porter Jr.s’ father, Bryan Kevin Porter Sr., pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and spent four years in prison for shooting and killing a 14-year-old girl in 1993, and was later murdered in a bar fight in 2004 when Porter Jr. was a child.
The tasteless reference quickly went viral, and eventually prompted LeBron James to condemn Consor’s remarks on Twitter.
“Oh he thought this was cool huh!!?? Nah we ain’t going for this! Sorry but this ain’t going to fly! How insensitive can you be to say something like this,” Bron tweeted. “Beat it man! I pray for you but there’s no place in our beautiful game for you.”
Since the call sounds too outlandishly terrible to actually have been made on live television, some are suggesting that Consor may have been referencing former NBA player Kevin Porter, who played from 1972 to 1983.
Shortly after LeBron’s tweet, Consor issued an apology, and explained that he was in fact referencing the other Kevin Porter.
“Please allow me to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to Ken Porter Jr., his family and the Rockets organization for the comments I made during last night’s game,” Consor wrote. “I mistakenly thought Kevin was the son of former Washington player Kevin Porter and was unaware that the words I choose to describe the game-winning shot would be in any way hurtful or insensitive. I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk with him soon.”
LeBron, meanwhile, is sticking by what he said. “I stand by my tweet and I stand by everything I said,” he told reporters, per TMZ, adding that he heard the call live and waited to comment on it the next morning.
