Amar’e Stoudemire Fined $50,000 After Anti-Gay Slur, NY Knicks Star Speaks

Written By S. Samuel

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has reportedly fined New York Knicks star power forward Amar'e Stoudemire $50,000 for an anti-gay remark he sent a Twitter follower last weekend.

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The NBA stood behind its punishment and labeled Stoudemire’s remark offensive.

Amare Stoudemire has been fined $50,000 by the NBA after the New York Knicks star tweeted a gay slur. Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the fine Tuesday in a release, calling Stoudemire’s language offensive and derogatory. Stoudemire apologized Sunday to a fan for using the slur in response to a crude tweet in which the fan admonished the All-Star to “make up for this past season.” (Daily Caller)

Stat has also released a statement apologizing for his remark.

Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire is owning up to a homophobic message he sent to a fan on Twitter this weekend — and now wants to publicly apologize, telling TMZ, “I should have known better and there is no excuse.” Amar’e adds, “I am a huge supporter of civil rights for all people. I am disappointed in myself for my statement to a fan.” (TMZ)

Last year, fellow NBA stars Joakim Noah and Kobe Bryant both received pricey punishments for using anti-gay slurs during televised games.

Stoudemire’s penalty matched the NBA’s punishment when the Bulls’ Joakim Noah yelled the same gay slur that Stoudemire used at a fan in Miami during a playoff game last season. Noah was also cited for using “a derogatory and offensive term.” But Stoudemire and Noah’s penalty was half of what the league hit Kobe Bryant with a month earlier. In addition to being fined $100,000, the Lakers’ superstar also received a strong public rebuke from David Stern for using the same derogatory word Noah used, against a league referee, Bennie Adams. (New York Daily News)

Reports of Stoudemire’s anti-gay statement surfaced online earlier this week.

The fan, whose Twitter handle is BFerrelli, tweeted his comment on Saturday and received a direct message containing an expletive and the slur from the account Twitter verifies as Stoudemire’s. BFerrelli, identified by the Daily News as Brian Ferrelli, posted a screen shot of the direct message. Direct messages can only be seen by the sender and the recipient. Stoudemire apologized early Sunday, using another direct message that BFerrelli posted as a screen shot, saying “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.” (ESPN)

Check out a past Amar’e Stoudemire interview below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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