In Tuesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, star Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for using a homophobic slur towards the referee, Bennie Adams. This wild episode began when Bryant received a technical foul and while making his way to the bench, he violently slammed his chair and threw down his towel yelling “Bennie, “ the name of the official and then saying the slur under his breath.
During a recent radio interview with Bryant, he explained that the slur was no way intended to harm or hurt anybody and that it was just in the heat of the moment. Later on the talk show, he explained that he would be appealing this fine, and that it is simply “protocol” to do so.
Commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, has recently been praised by many Gay and Lesbian organizations for his actions of acting swiftly and not letting these comments go without punishment. Recently, Stern has released a statement saying, “While I’m fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society.”
Being an athlete myself, I can definitely understand the frustration of Kobe and the anger behind receiving a bad call in a big game, but as David Stern said, a comment such as this PARTICULAR one that is highly offensive towards many people is absolutely unacceptable and shouldn’t be tolerated not only in the NBA, but also in our society.
