ESPN’s John Anderson Apologizes for Insensitive Comment About Golden Knights’ Whitecloud

He made the comment when talking about the 26-year-old’s playoff goal.

ESPN’s John Anderson issued an apology Tuesday for an insensitive comment he made regarding Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud. 

While speaking on SportsCenter and doing a play-by-play of Monday night’s highlights of the playoff game between the Golden Knights and Oilers, Anderson said, “What kind of name is Whitecloud? Great name if you’re a toilet paper,” when talking about the 26-year-old’s goal. 

Whitecloud is of Indigenous descent and his family is from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, a reserve west of Manitoba, Canada.

“This is totally on me and I sincerely apologize to Zach, the Golden Knights, their fans and everyone else for what I said,” Anderson said in the statement. “It’s my job to be prepared and know the backgrounds of the players and I blew it.

ESPN anchor John Anderson with a statement last night on his comment about Zach Whitecloud: pic.twitter.com/joZyaURsDF

— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) May 9, 2023

During the Vegas-Edmonton highlight on SportsCenter, John Anderson jokes about Zach Whitecloud's name, saying it's a "great name if you're a toilet paper."

Whitecloud is the first Indigenous NHL player from the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. pic.twitter.com/gngA1yg8wk

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 9, 2023

“I will be reaching out to the team to personally apologize and hope to have the opportunity to speak to Zack [sic] as well.” 

With the 5–1 win, Las Vegas took a 2–1 series lead, with Game 4 taking place on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.