Kobe Bryant Dead: MSNBC Reporter Explains N-Word Confusion When Referencing Lakers in Report

The sports community is reeling as NBA star Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning, and one MSNBC reporter is taking a lot of heat from social media after for something they thought she said. A Twitter user shared a video of the reporter getting mixed up when talking about the Lakers. The thought was the reporter was using the N-word and that got the Twitter user riled up.

So this @MSNBC reporter just referred to the Lakers as the Los Angeles Niggers on live tv when talking about Kobe. pic.twitter.com/htfPRwlgV6

— Jimmy Jump 🏁 (@Littles1126) January 26, 2020

Alison Morris is the MSNBC reporter and she went to Twitter to apologize for the incident and explain what happened.

"Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant's passing, I unfortunately stuttered on air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say 'Nakers.' Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused."

A number of Twitter users responded to the video.

"She just mispronounced it is what I am thinking," one user wrote. "Otherwise why the hell would you do this on purpose at this moment in time mourning his death and on national television."

"[What the f—]! How can you even get to that word from anything?!" another person wrote. "There's a lot of news reporters and journalists that need firing tonight."

"That is not a word that would ever ever ever be in my vocabulary," a third Twitter user wrote. "Clearly it is in hers. This is disgraceful and revealing of someone's character."

"[MSNBC] needs to correct this immediately, not tomorrow not next week but today this minute," another person added. "We want her termination as loud and bold as she was on this clip."

The crash occurred outside the Los Angeles area around 10 a.m. local time. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Bryant's 13-year old daughter, Gianna, was also one of the five victims who was killed in the crash.

"Sources: Kobe Bryant was on his way to a travel basketball game with his daughter Gianna when the helicopter crashed," Wojnarowski wrote on Twitter. "Those aboard the helicopter also included another player and parent."

Bryant played for the Lakers from 1996-2016 and had a very successful career. He helped the Lakers win five championships and he was named NBA Finals MVP twice. He was also named to the All-Star Game 18 times and was named All-Star MVP four times which ties him with Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVP awards in NBA history. Along with his work in the NBA, Bryant was a successful Olympic athlete as he won a gold medal in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games.