The NBA announced Tuesday that it has fined New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire $50,000 for using a gay slur on Twitter. In a release Stu Jackson, the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations said Stoudemire was fined for “using offensive and derogatory language in a Twitter message.”
Last week, Stoudemire responded to a Knicks’s fan tweet, which said he “better come back stronger and quicker to make up for last season mannnnn deada***.” Stoudemire responded by calling the fan a derogatory slur for a homosexual. Stoudemire later sent the fan a second direct message apologizing for the first message, but not before the fan posted a picture of the direct message on his twitter account.
Stoudemire and the fan later had an exchange, that then led to the fan asking, perhaps tongue and cheek, if he could get some tickets from Stoudemire (Stay classy, Knicks nation).
This entire episode is pretty disappointing. Homophobic slurs (slurs of any kind for that matter) are unacceptable regardless of how public or private the forum. Why Amar’e felt the need to respond is beyond me. Despite his moments of anger, Stoudemire isn’t a dumb guy. He’ll likely pay the fine, release a public statement saying he was wrong and keep a low profile this summer. Between this and punching a fire extinguisher during the first round of the playoffs and a lackluster performance overall last season, STAT probably wants next season to start ASAP.
