Sacramento Kings scrap Chinese New Year of the Monkey T-shirt giveaway for being racially insensitive

Player DeMarcus Cousins told the Kings operations team that the Lunar New Year shirts celebrating the Year of The Monkey were inappropriate

The Chinese Year of the Monkey begins on February 8 but the shirts were meant to be given away on February 1, the first day of Black History Month

The staff rushed to remove all the shirts before fans arrived at Sleep Train Arena

The Sacramento Kings basketball team had to cancel giving away Lunar New Year shirts celebrating the Year of the Monkey on Monday after a player noted the shirts could be deemed offensive during Black History month.

Bucks TV analyst Marques Johnson says he was called into a conversation player DeMarcus Cousins was having with the Kings operations team over the controversial shirt.

Read more: Sacramento Kings scrap Year of the Monkey T-shirt because of Black History Month | Daily Mail Online