The cameras are always on. We’ve seen lately that that’s more than just a figure of speech. For the second time in as many months, a player has been caught on camera directing a gay slur at someone during a game. After picking up his second foul in the first half of last night’s Game 3 loss to the Heat, the Bulls’ Joakim Noah was caught directing the slur at a fan.
Last month, of course, the other NBA player who made similar headlines was Kobe Bryant when he directed the same word towards a referee. Kobe paid the price literally and figuratively. He was fined a hefty $100,000 and has continued to receive criticism even though he apologized by calling his words “stupid and ignorant.” But the difference between Noah’s incident and Kobe’s was that Noah said this to a ticket-paying patron sitting in the stands, not another player or referee.
I don’t know what was said to Noah by this fan to get under his skin, but I do know that fans often times like to annoy players solely so that they can rile them up. I could be wrong, but who knows if this fan didn’t go home and brag to friends that he got Noah to yell at him? I’m not necessarily surprised that Noah engaged in a verbal altercation with a fan, but I am surprised that he would choose to use that word in the wake of what happened with Kobe. Obviously it wasn’t premeditated, but still. He was apparently “caught up” (as he described it after the game) in the situation and emotions got the best of him.
As a result of both Kobe’s incident and Suns President Rick Welts revealing that he’s gay, the NBA has been running ads to stop the use of gay slurs. That’s not something I’ve never seen the League do in the past. Noah’s incident gives them more reason to do so. I’m not defending a player that uses any word that would offend a group of people, but I will say that I wish that the camera would not focus so much on a player who is obviously visibly upset. Basketball is an emotional game and that usually leads to words that shouldn’t be easily deciphered on camera. If a guy seems upset, is it too much for the League to make a concerted effort not have camera hone in on him? That method won’t necessarily eliminate any offensive word, but it will eliminate the negative attention that follows.
After the game, Noah apologized stating “It’s very disappointing. I apologize if I offended anyone. I was just caught in the moment. A fan said something that was disrespectful towards me and I responded. I have to take the consequences like a man. It was just a bad decision on my part.” There’s no reason to think he won’t be fined at least $100,000 to match Kobe’s. But since it was directed toward a fan and someone who contributes to keeping the NBA alive, I wouldn’t be surprised if David Stern levies a fine more than Bryant’s.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
