One week ago, when the Los Angeles Lakers narrowly escaped Houston with a win, future Hall of Famer LeBron James made it clear that he had respect for Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. as a basketball player.
A week later, James is showing that he has interest in Porter as a person, as well, and he’s using both his media interviews and his massive Twitter platform (with more than 50 million followers) to do so.
After Porter’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer on Wednesday night in Washington, a controversy erupted when the Wizards’ TV broadcast analyst, Glenn Consor, made a mistaken reference to Porter’s late father.
“You’ve got to give credit,” Consor said on the air. “Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time.”
Porter Jr.’s father, Bryan Kevin Porter Sr., pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a shooting death of a 14-year-old girl in 1993. He was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison. Porter Sr. died in 2004 after being shot in a South Seattle bar, when Porter Jr. was only four years old.
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. Beat it man! I pray for you but there’s no place in our beautiful game for you! https://t.co/UgVOBUOsPK
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 6, 2022
Consor apologized on Thursday morning and said he mistakenly believed Porter’s father was Kevin Porter, a 71-year-old who played for the Baltimore and Washington Bullets in the 1970s and early 1980s.
But James — who called out Consor on Twitter for being “insensitive” and said it would not fly — said later in the day that he has no regrets over his tweet, even if Consor’s regrettable phrase was uttered without intent. In explaining his reaction, James invoked his personal relationship with Porter, as well as a lack of due diligence on the analyst’s part.
“The kid, Kevin Porter Jr., has already been placed with a label in this league already.” James told reporters. “We don’t know what triggers can happen. … For that kid to make that game-winning shot, (and) that sentence that he used… no matter if he knew if that was his dad or not, it should have never been used in the first place.”
“I can’t let that ride on behalf of a kid that looks up to me,” James concluded. “Kevin Porter Jr. looks up to me, and it’s my obligation to make sure that he knows that I have his back. That’s just the simple fact.”
James’ comments continued for several minutes. His complete remarks can be viewed at the start of the embedded video below.
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