ESPN Anchor John Anderson Apologizes for Tasteless Joke About Indigenous NHL Player’s Name

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.