Weatherman’s racist tweet about NBA’s Draymond Green draws outrage. ‘This is America’
A Tennessee weatherman deleted his Twitter account after tweeting a racial slur to describe Golden State’s forward Draymond Green in an NBA playoff game against Memphis.
And while the tweet drew plenty of outrage, some, including Green and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, weren’t surprised.
The tweet went viral after Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson was ejected during the third quarter of the Warriors 142-112 win over Memphis on May 7, prompting Joey Sulipeck, the chief meteorologist at FOX13 WHBQ-TV, to take a racially charged jab at Green.
“And chew on this,” Sulipeck’s tweeted. “Draymond runs his (racial slur) open mouth ALL GAME LONG, but mild-mannered Kyle Anderson disputes one call and gets ejected?”
The tweet has since been deleted — but not before screenshots were taken and both Green and Kerr were made aware of it.
“Does it surprise me that a weatherman would tweet a slur at Draymond in 2022? Not in the slightest,” Kerr said according to multiple outlets including NBC. “This is America. This is how we operate.”
Green responded to the tweet on Instagram following the game.
“Are you surprised?” Green wrote in an Instagram story, which only lasts 24 hours before disappearing, while sharing a post regarding the tweet.
He also took to Twitter to express his feelings on the matter.
Sulipeck received backlash for using the “derogatory term associated with primates” and as of May 9, his Twitter account has been disabled, Mercury News reported.
Fox13 has said in a statement to McClatchy News that Sulipeck’s tweet “does not reflect the values of FOX13” and that they will “will take appropriate action pending a full investigation.”
Game 4 of the heated Western Conference semifinal series is at 10 p.m. PT Monday, May 9 in San Francisco and will be televised on TNT.
Golden State leads the best-of-7 series 2 games to 1.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Weatherman’s racist tweet about NBA’s Draymond Green draws outrage. ‘This is America’."