Kobe Bryant fined $100,000 for gay slur

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant
was fined $100,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for a homophobic slur that
commissioner David Stern called "offensive and inexcusable."After receiving a technical foul during Tuesday's game against the San Antonio Spurs,
Bryant stormed to the bench, hit his seat before sitting down, threw a
towel and then yelled "Bennie!" toward referee Bernie Adams. Bryant then
leaned back and muttered a gay slur.The episode was caught on
camera on TNT's national telecast, prompting announcer Steve Kerr to
say: "You might wanna take the cameras off of him right now, for the
children watching from home." Bryant issued a statement Wednesday afternoon."What I said last
night should not be taken literally," he said. "My actions were out of
frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do
NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and
were NOT meant to offend anyone."Stern strongly condemned Bryant's words in a statement."While
I'm fully aware that basketball is an emotional game,
such a distasteful term should never be tolerated," he said.
"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."The Lakers
had no immediate comment on the fine but earlier Wednesday issued a
statement saying: "We haven't seen the video, so it would be
inappropriate for us to comment on it."The Lakers are battling the Mavericks for the second seed in the West. They beat the Spurs 102-93 on Tuesday.On
Monday, the league rescinded Bryant's 15th technical of the season. If
it had stood, he would have received his 16th on Tuesday and would have
been suspended for the Lakers' season finale. If he receives another T
on Wednesday, he would be suspended for the first game next season.
Technical counts start over in the playoffs.Stern's action drew praise from gay-rights organizations that have demanded a fuller apology from Bryant and the Lakers."We
applaud Commissioner Stern and the NBA for not only fining Bryant but
for recognizing that slurs and derogatory comments have no place on the
basketball court or in society at large," Human Rights Campaign
President Joe Solmonese said. "We hope such swift and decisive action
will send a strong and universal message that this kind of hateful
outburst is simply inexcusable no matter what the context."Before the NBA levied its fine, advocacy groups had condemned Bryant's comments on Wednesday.The
Human Rights Campaign -- a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil
rights organization -- said in a statement: "Hopefully Mr. Bryant will
recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such
language not only offends millions of LGBT people around the world, but
also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us,
most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate."The
president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the
nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy and
anti-defamation organization, also put out a statement."Discriminatory
slurs have no place on or off the court," Jarrett Barrios said.
"Professional sports players need to set a better example for young
people who use words like this on the playground and in our schools,
creating a climate of intolerance and hostility. The L.A. Lakers have a
responsibility to educate their fans about why this word is
unacceptable."