BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Billings radio station has suspended a host indefinitely for suggesting that Native American basketball teams have their own post-season tournaments.
KCTR-AM announced the suspension of Paul Mushaben Thursday and apologized to its listeners, advertisers and the Native American community.
Mushaben posted on the station’s website that a recent tournament crowd was unruly and disrespectful. He wrote that it might be time for the Montana High School Association to proceed with “an all-Indian tourney.”
The post prompted a backlash. Members of the basketball teams from Power, Belt, Heart Butte and Box Elder locked arms at center court in a show of unity before beginning competition Northern Class C Divisional Tournament.
Mushaben told the Billings Gazette his post was not meant to be racist, but to note that the majority of problems happen when Native Americans play.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.