Sacramento Kings Fans Upset Sportswriter Called Owner Aladdin Ranadive
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A longtime sportswriter is under fire from Sacramento Kings fans for a message on Twitter about owner Vivek Ranadive.
Fans say NBA writer Peter Vecsey's Tweet about Ranadive, referring to him as "Aladdin Ranadive" was racist.
Vecsey was an NBA heavyweight in the 1990s who worked for NBC. He's also penned columns for the New York Post and appeared on NBA TV.
This Tweet from his verified account went out to his more than 26,000 followers.
Outrage was immediate as dozens of angry replies slammed the post as racist. The NBA writer became a trending topic in Sacramento on Twitter.
"It's just disgusting. There's no place for it in a rational society," said Kings fan Nick Loret De Mola.
"It's so unrelated to sports in general, that how do you think it's anything but racist?" said fan Jess Milbourn.
The story of Aladdin is a classic rags-to-riches tail first told in China, then in the Middle East. Ranadive, however, is Indian.
Vescey's remark clearly touched a nerve, and not because of the way it called for Ranadive to put pressure on his front office.
"When someone's coming out and using such inflammatory language, again, about someone who's respected in the community, we can't stand for that," said De Mola.
Vecsey ignored CBS13's requests for an explanation. He's blocked several Twitter users critical of his choice of words.
He did retweet and favorite one message from a user.
A legion of Kings fans would not agree.
