After five years, the legal saga of former Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear may finally be reaching a conclusion. In 2020, amid social justice protests following the police killing of Michael Brown, Napear reacted to a tweet from former Kings star DeMarcus Cousins with an all-caps message: “ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!” This response coincided with the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.
This tweet resulted in his dismissal from KHTK, his local radio station job in Sacramento, and led him to resign from his position as the play-by-play voice of the Kings, a role he had held since 1998.
Hey!!!! How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven’t heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! https://t.co/DfzKl3w0jm
— Grant Napear (@GrantNapearshow) June 1, 2020
After years of litigation against the radio station owners, it seems that Napear’s case has reached its conclusion. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, Napear’s wrongful termination lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court, with the judge stating that ruling in his favor would be unconstitutional.
Former Sacramento Kings broadcaster Grant Napear lost his bid to regain his radio talk show after a federal judge dismissed his wrongful termination lawsuit against KHTK-AM’s owner, court records show. Napear lost his position at Sactown Sports 1140 in 2020, after posting “ALL LIVES MATTER … EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!” on social media in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. The tweet was broadly interpreted as opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, a claim Napear denies.
Napear’s legal battle officially ended last week in federal court in Sacramento, with Judge Dale A. Drozd ruling that applying California labor laws protecting political rights to the company’s actions in firing Napear would be unconstitutional.
Additionally, Napear had previously seen a discrimination lawsuit dismissed in 2023, in which he alleged his firing was due to being white, male, and Unitarian. A judge found no evidence supporting his claims of discrimination. The wrongful termination lawsuit dates back to 2021.
Despite having both claims dismissed, Napear’s legal team intends to appeal. He remains active with a podcast covering the Kings and the NBA, joined by his longtime broadcast partner Gerry Reynolds. Follow his podcast here.
