Hornets suspend broadcaster after tweet about Jazz-Nuggets game that contained racial slur
The Charlotte Hornets said Tuesday that radio announcer John Focke had been suspended indefinitely after he sent a tweet about the Nuggets’ Monday win over the Jazz that included a racial slur.
“The Charlotte Hornets are aware of the recent social media post by radio broadcaster John Focke,” the team said in a statement. “As an organization, we do not condone this type of language. John has been suspended indefinitely as we investigate the matter more closely.”
Charlotte Hornets Statement: pic.twitter.com/4RaDvcSfHU
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) August 18, 2020
Focke was tweeting during the Nuggets’ overtime win over the Jazz. Per screen shots of the now-deleted tweet, it read, “Shot making in this Jazz-[Nuggets] game is awesome! Murray and Mitchell going back and forth what a game!” The slur was in the tweet instead of “Nuggets.”
He apologized for his tweet Monday night.
“Earlier today I made a horrific error while attempting to tweet about the Denver-Utah game,” Focke wrote. “I don’t know how I mistyped, I had (and have) no intention of ever using that word. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been sick to my stomach about it ever since. I’m truly sorry that this happened and I apologize to those I offended.”
— John Focke (@JWFOCKE) August 18, 2020
Focke was hired by the Hornets to be the team’s radio broadcaster before the 2019-20 season. The team was one of the eight teams that were not invited to the NBA bubble to finish out the regular season ahead of the 2020 playoffs.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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