LeBron James among those critical of broadcaster’s ‘trigger’ comment

A Washington Wizards TV broadcaster has apologized for an on-air comment about the late father of Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr., saying he thought he was talking about someone else.

Porter made a three-point shot at the buzzer to lift the Rockets to a 114-111 victory over Washington on Wednesday night. NBC Sports Washington analyst Glenn Consor commented as part of the game broadcast, “Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time.”

Porter, who played at USC during the 2018-19 season, was 4 years old when his father was shot and killed in a South Seattle bar.

Kevin Porter Sr. was charged in August 1993 with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, telling the judge that the gun had accidentally discharged, and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison.

Lakers star LeBron James was among those to express anger and shock at the apparent insensitivity of Consor’s comment.

“Oh he thought this was cool huh!!?? Nah we ain’t going for this! Sorry but this ain’t going to fly!” James tweeted along with a video clip of the remark. “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 took to Twitter on Thursday morning to apologize to Porter and explain that he had mistakenly thought the Rockets player’s father was former NBA player Kevin Porter, who played for the Washington Bullets (who eventually became the Wizards), Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets during an 11-year NBA career in the 1970s and early 1980s.

“Please allow me to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to Kevin Porter Jr., his family and the Rockets organization for the comments I made during last night’s game,” Consor tweeted. “I mistakenly thought that Kevin was the son of former Washington player Kevin Porter and was unaware that the words I chose to describe his game-winning shot would be in any way hurtful or insensitive. I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk with him soon.”

NBC Sports Washington retweeted Consor’s statement and added, “We join in Glenn’s apology to Kevin Porter, Jr., and his family.”

Porter Jr. has yet to publicly respond to the incident.

Staff writer J. Brady McCollough contributed to this report.