Former Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear still stands by message that cost him job

Six years ago, then-Sacramento Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear posted a tweet that cost him his job.

Even now, he still stands by it.

Just days prior, protests and demonstrations against police brutality had started in Minneapolis and spread across the United States in reaction to the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement became the driving force of the protests and a target of conservative and right-wing critics, who started saying “All Lives Matter,” a rejection of BLM’s message that Black people were not being treated as equals in American society.

On May 31, DeMarcus Cousins tweeted at Napear, asking for his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement. Napear (who had had some notable exchanges with Cousins while the latter played for the Kings) responded by saying, “Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven’t heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!”

Former Kings players, including Chris Webber and Matt Barnes, reacted and shared comments of their own, saying Napear was a “clown” and a “closet racist.”

The fallout was immediate. Napear was placed on administrative leave and later fired from KHTK, where he had been doing a daily show. And on June 2, Napear resigned from his post as the Kings’ TV play-by-play announcer, a role he’d held since 1988.

Despite the fallout, Napear was adamant he didn’t regret what he said, and six years later, he remains resolute that he did nothing wrong.

6 years ago today. Are there really still people that don’t agree with this? I haven’t found many! https://t.co/9DKDafgaYM

— Grant Napear (@GrantNapear) May 31, 2026

Napear filed a wrongful termination suit against Bonneville (KHTK’s owner), but it was dismissed. After five years in exile, he returned to Sacramento’s airwaves this past September with Fox Sports KSAC, but the show was abruptly canceled in May. Napear continues to host his “If you don’t like that with Grant Napear” podcast.

While many have pointed out that “All Lives Matter” is something of a linguistic trick, meant to sound universally positive but often employed to downplay specific concerns raised by Black Lives Matter, Napear is sticking to his guns on this one.