LeBron James is “not taking back nothing” he said about Glenn Consor, after the Wizards announcer made a controversial remark about Kevin Porter Jr.’s late father.
On Thursday, the Lakers star defended slamming Consor’s “insensitive”remark after Porter hit the game-winning three-pointer to secure a Rockets win against the Wizards Wednesday night.
“Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time,” Consor said on the NBC Sports Washington broadcast.
Porter’s father, Bryan Kevin Porter Sr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in a 1993 shooting death of a 14-year-old girl, and was sentenced to over four years in prison, according to USA Today. Porter Sr. died in July 2004, after being shot multiple times at a Seattle bar.
“Oh he thought this was cool huh!!??” James tweeted in response to video of Consor’s call. “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!”
Consor released a statement to Twitter Thursday morning, apologizing to Porter Jr., his family and the Rockets organization.
On Thursday, James refused to back off his criticism.
“I stand by my tweet, and I stand by everything I said,” James told reporters.
James suggested that Consor didn’t do his homework preparing for the Wizards-Rockets matchup.
“If I’m a play-by-play announcer, and I’m covering a team, my local team … so he remembers the Kevin Porter who used to play for the Bullets,” James said. “The first thing I would have done, I would have said, ‘Oh, Kevin Porter Jr. is coming into town, let me see if that’s his son.’ I would have did that due diligence way before, and I think everyone on this call would have did the same.”
James went on to name other NBA players with the same name, including his former Cavaliers teammate Isaiah Thomas and NBA Hall of Fame guard Isiah Thomas.
“I don’t want to hear that excuse,” James said. “Could he have made a mistake? Absolutely. But in our job, in our field, as professionals, we are in a professional league, you gotta do your due diligence and do your job — all the way to the point where, why did he even say that at the end of the game, anyway? Those words?”
James maintained he is not calling for Consor to be fired, but it’s important have Porter Jr.’s back.
“That was the greatest moment for that kid in his young NBA career so far,” James said.