Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler / GettyImages
*CBS Sports broadcasters Chris Walker and Chick Hernandez have found themselves in a hot soup following their out-of-place remarks on November 21 during their coverage of Wichita State’s win over Grand Canyon University. The two openly mocked Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, a Wichita State basketball player who also happens to be a Native American.
They couldn’t get over his name and decided they might as well turn it into a joke. It’s Walker who started it all:
“Who got that offensive rebound? I don’t even want to say it. I’ll let you say his name because I want to be sure. Is it ‘Pooh Bear?’ Come on; you got to be kidding me,” Walker said of the Wichita State player.
“Isaiah ‘Pooh Bear’ Chandler is 50% Native American from the Oglala Lakota tribe, so he chose to use ‘Pooh Bear’ on his jersey,” Hernandez answered.
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Here’s @CBSSports announcers mocking @Big_I35‘s name on national television. If you get PAID to call games and say people’s names, maybe research in advance to understand it’s a Native American name. #ShockerNation pic.twitter.com/ErycVAoRbq
— Ryan W. Gates (@RyanWGates) November 21, 2022
Walker responded, “You know what, I love that. Shoutout to Coach Isaac Brown for allowing it to happen.”
Walker then started to compare the basketball player to Winnie the Pooh. Poor Bear-Chandler grew up on a reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. After the end of the game, he took to Twitter to respond to the announcers’ remarks.
He wrote: “So it’s okay to make fun of my last name? Just shows your ability to be serious in a professional setting. Just because my people was almost colonized doesn’t mean I don’t know where I come from! #WeAreStillHere #WildOglala #TeachHim”
Many fans were not pleased with the two announcers; they felt it was all disrespectful.
Ryan W. Gates, a Twitter user, posted: “Here’s @CBSSports announcers mocking @Big_I35‘s name on national television. If you get PAID to call games and say people’s names, maybe research in advance to understand it’s a Native American name. #ShockerNation” pic.twitter.com/ErycVAoRbq.
Another Twitter user, Ryan W. Gates (@RyanWGates), wrote: “It’s not okay. The hypocrisy when they read from their script about how it’s Native American Heritage Month (with the camera on you) while they mocked your name and congratulated your coach for ALLOWING you to have your name on your jersey. It was disgusting and disrespectful.”
Wichita State, through its official social media pages, later came out to condemn the remarks by Walker and Hernandez. The statement by the Wichita State also took note that the two commentators had made efforts to apologize. The statement added, “Isaiah strongly desires for this unfortunate event to serve as a positive learning opportunity in support of the indigenous community.”
🖤💛 All, please keep in mind @MrChickSports and @CWalkerSports made both a 1-on-1 apology to Isaiah and a public apology on air. Cancelling them isn’t the answer. They took accountability. That’s a great first step. Now they learn to grow. Google to see more. pic.twitter.com/teAAZuRwC8
— Ryan W. Gates (@RyanWGates) November 24, 2022
AwfulAnnouncing reported that Hernandez and Walker personally met with Poor Bear-Chandler on Tuesday and they apologized.
“Chris and I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, his family, the Native American community, NABC, the Hall of Fame Classic for our comments and lack of sensitivity surrounding Isaiah’s name during yesterday’s game,” said Hernandez.
He added, “We asked for and met with Isaiah this morning to apologize in person and express our deep regret. We appreciate Isaiah taking the time to educate us on the significance of his name and his heritage. We will continue to learn from this and be better moving forward.”
