The Charlotte Hornets shut down their radio station on Tuesday after using the N-word on Twitter, claiming he was a “wrong type” and “terrible mistake.”
Play-by-play man John Focke wrote the racial slur in a tweet Monday night during an NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets.
Focke surprised himself with the shooting display of both teams, in particular Donovan Mitchell of Utah and Jamal Murray of Denver, and posted a tweet that has since been deleted. But it was captured in several screenshots.
Shot in this Jazz (N-word) game is great! Murray and Mitchell go back and forth some game! He wrote.
The racist slur was the word that “Nuggets” must have been.
“The Charlotte Hornets are aware of the recent social media post by radio host John Focke,” the team said in a statement on Tuesday.
“As an organization, we do not condone this kind of language. John has been detained indefinitely as we investigate the matter further. ”
Focke deleted that tweet and apologize on Monday night.
“Earlier today I made a terrible mistake trying to tweet about the Denver-Utah game. I do not know how I inserted it incorrectly, I had (and have) no intention of ever using that word. I fully accept “responsibility for my actions. I have been sick to my stomach ever since. I’m really sorry this happened and I apologize to those I offend,” he wrote.
The Hornets aired their games on WFNZ -FM and Focke was hired by the Hornets in April of last year. The Minnesota resident was previously the radio announcer for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
Charlotte missed the playoffs this season and is not playing in the bubble of the NBA in Florida.
