John Focke’s brief time as the radio play by play voice of the Charlotte Hornets is over.
On Thursday, the Hornets released a brief statement announcing that Focke would not return as the team’s radio broadcaster “due to a violation of the organization’s social media policy.”
Charlotte Hornets Statement: pic.twitter.com/6FS29oU5Yj
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) September 3, 2020
A couple of weeks ago, Focke tweeted out a racial slur when discussing a Jazz-Nuggets game. Focke claimed it was a typo, and the team indefinitely suspended him. He hasn’t tweeted since apologizing shortly after his suspension.
In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Focke said his slipup wasn’t an auto-correct error, but a legitimate typo caused by typing too fast and not proofing his work.
I know some people will complain about the Hornets’ decision here, but I think think they were justified. And if they kept Focke around, I also think that decision would have been justified. It seemed like the team took their time and made a reasoned decision. They didn’t immediately drop the hammer and fire Focke, and they didn’t let him writhe on the vine for months. Focke’s typo may have been an innocent mistake as he claims (and I have no reason to doubt him), but that doesn’t mean that he automatically gets a pass.
