The Case of Grant Napear
What exactly undid a 32-year career in Sacramento?
I mean this and I'll believe this until the day I die. If I was allowed to go on the air, at three o'clock on June 1st, I'd still have both my jobs. — Grant Napear
So there’s a lawsuit taking place in America right now, and it just might be unique. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A man is suing a proxy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormon Church) for firing him over a tweet it saw as insensitive to Black people, but one he maintains was just espousing a first principle of his Unitarian Universalist faith. The man, the aforementioned Grant Napear, was a long-time play-by-play announcer for the Sacramento Kings. The tweet was a response to a former NBA All-Star who despised him.
On May 31, 2020, as the graphic George Floyd video was roiling the nation into widespread protests and riots, former Kings All-Star DeMarcus Cousins sent a tweet in Napear’s direction, asking, “what’s your take on BLM?” According to Napear, he wasn’t aware of the tweet until he got a call from his broadcasting partner, former Kings defensive stalwart Doug Christie. Napear then decided to reply, tweeting, “Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven't heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER...EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!”
