NEWS: Amare Stoudemire needs to spend less time on his cell phone. The star forward of the New York Knicks was fined $50,000 by the NBA for tweeting a gay slur after receiving a crude tweet from a fan who told him to make up for his mediocre play this past season. It was a one-on-one exchange that went public. The NBA called Stoudemire’s tweet offensive and derogatory.
THE TRUTH: The incident occurred on Saturday, June 23 after Stoudemire responded to a fan’s tweet that read: “You better come back stronger and quicker to make up for last season.” Stoudemire responded through a direct message to the fan that said, “Fuck you, I don’t have to do anything, fag,” The fan then took a screen capture of Stoudemire’s message and tweeted it. Multiple blogs reposted it.
Stoudemire apologized to the fan Sunday morning by sending him another direct message, which read: “I apologize for what I said earlier. I just got off the plane and had time to think about it. Sorry bro. No Excuses. Won’t happen again.” The fan later wrote: “@Amareisreal sooo after all this that happened can I get a follow back or tickets to a game lol or is that pushing it?”
The league’s actions were in accordance with its recent crackdown against anti-gay slurs. Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant received a $100,000 fine for calling a referee an anti-gay slur in April. A month later, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah received a $50,000 fine for shouting an anti-gay slur at a fan who was heckling him.
Soon after those events, the NBA created a public service announcement featuring Grant Hill and Jared Dudley of the Phoenix Suns to educate fans about homophobia.
Mymood says:
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