Noah fined 50K for gay slur

[JSD]

However, if I am the league, I would be furious with ESPN.  This is the reason they have the game on a delay, and for them to actually show that puts the league in a terrible position. 

That's a great point. It's about time the league starts holding the networks responsible too.

[Finkelskyhook]

These are astronomical fines Kobe 100k Noah 50K. How much for the S word or R word or F word or N word? By buckling under pressure of a powerful lobbying group, a bad precedence has been set by the league. It opened up flood gate for similar pressure. It would have been better had the NBA handled this matter internally instead of unleashing the wrath on the players. I wonder how the players' union feel about this? Clearly the media and the league offices could careless about the players welfare.

On a side note: Do gays even watch sports? Almost all of the sponsorship during games are geared to hetero-males.

Dude, your post (especially your last sentence) is pretty offensive. How could you ask a question like that? Geez.

As for the word, it is inherently derogatory. When people say the 'f' word, it doesn't really mean anything. It is just a bad word. In schools, I hear kids say the 'n' word fairly often, and although, that language isn't appropriate, they are usually saying it in a friendly way (instead of 'dude' or 'man').

With all of the troubles that are going on (suicides, etc) with younger gay people, the last thing they need is to just let this stuff go. It is so freakin' hard growing up gay, and even though it is getting easier, it is only because people have become aware that this stuff needs to stop.

As a sidenote, I don't think Noah meant anything by it and his apology certainly seems sincere. The same goes for Kobe. It's just one of those things they have to take care of.

Why is Change's last line offensive??  It's simple marketing.  If sponsors thought viewership was more than a certain demographic, they'd advertise to that demographic.  Much like Stern thinks pandering is profitable for the league...Sponsership targeted towards hetero-males is profitable for them.  

In all fairness, didn't Doc Rivers anger Bill Kennedy years ago for using what Kennedy interpreted as a gay slur while arguing a call with him? Rivers never got fined or anything, but I heard a few times that it lead to the feud he has with Kennedy, which is much worse imo for Doc and the celtics.

I think Tim Donaghy broke that story. So depends on how reliable you think that source is

Based on the other information in his book which is dead-on accurate concerning officiating...I'd say Donaghy is an extremely reliable source.

Why did Lebron get fined for his slur in the press conference about the mentally challenged?

lol....Are you kidding?

[soap07]

LOL. Man, I love that Finkelskyhook refers to gays as a "fringe" group. Hey! Who cares if they're offended?! There aren't that many of them that watch the sport anyway.










As if that should matter.

[jambr380]

These are astronomical fines Kobe 100k Noah 50K. How much for the S word or R word or F word or N word? By buckling under pressure of a powerful lobbying group, a bad precedence has been set by the league. It opened up flood gate for similar pressure. It would have been better had the NBA handled this matter internally instead of unleashing the wrath on the players. I wonder how the players' union feel about this? Clearly the media and the league offices could careless about the players welfare.

On a side note: Do gays even watch sports? Almost all of the sponsorship during games are geared to hetero-males.

Dude, your post (especially your last sentence) is pretty offensive. How could you ask a question like that? Geez.

As for the word, it is inherently derogatory. When people say the 'f' word, it doesn't really mean anything. It is just a bad word. In schools, I hear kids say the 'n' word fairly often, and although, that language isn't appropriate, they are usually saying it in a friendly way (instead of 'dude' or 'man').

With all of the troubles that are going on (suicides, etc) with younger gay people, the last thing they need is to just let this stuff go. It is so freakin' hard growing up gay, and even though it is getting easier, it is only because people have become aware that this stuff needs to stop.

As a sidenote, I don't think Noah meant anything by it and his apology certainly seems sincere. The same goes for Kobe. It's just one of those things they have to take care of.

Why is Change's last line offensive??  It's simple marketing.  If sponsors thought viewership was more than a certain demographic, they'd advertise to that demographic.  Much like Stern thinks pandering is profitable for the league...Sponsership targeted towards hetero-males is profitable for them.   

In all fairness, didn't Doc Rivers anger Bill Kennedy years ago for using what Kennedy interpreted as a gay slur while arguing a call with him? Rivers never got fined or anything, but I heard a few times that it lead to the feud he has with Kennedy, which is much worse imo for Doc and the celtics.

I think Tim Donaghy broke that story. So depends on how reliable you think that source is

Based on the other information in his book which is dead-on accurate concerning officiating...I'd say Donaghy is an extremely reliable source.

Why did Lebron get fined for his slur in the press conference about the mentally challenged?

lol....Are you kidding?

Well, obviously a company's best marketing demographic is heterosexual males, but that doesn't mean that other people don't watch. To assume gay people don't watch sports is pretty ignorant. I have many gay friends that breathe sports. Heck, I am gay and have loved sports since I can remember. Listen, I am not offended by what Noah (or Kobe) said, as I don't think he meant it 'that' way at all. But, there are a lot of younger, impressionable gay people out there that are frightened enough without having their heroes throw out offensive slurs. Not punishing players when they use a certain derogatory language is like saying, 'it's okay - no big deal', when it kind of is a big deal.

[Change]

Why did Lebron not get fined for his slur in the press conference about the mentally challenged?

Great example. Humorous the NBA can't follow their own precedent. Kobe 100K fine but Noah gets 50k fine basically saying the same thing. Meantime Lebron gets a pass for an equally offensive word. The NBA fell victim to the lobby.

[Celtics18]

These are astronomical fines Kobe 100k Noah 50K. How much for the S word or R word or F word or N word? By buckling under pressure of a powerful lobbying group, a bad precedence has been set by the league. It opened up flood gate for similar pressure. It would have been better had the NBA handled this matter internally instead of unleashing the wrath on the players. I wonder how the players' union feel about this? Clearly the media and the league offices could careless about the players welfare.

On a side note: Do gays even watch sports? Almost all of the sponsorship during games are geared to hetero-males.

Yeah, as far as I can tell it's only attractive, heterosexual, white people who watched television at all.  I'm just basing this on the advertising. 

[SHAQATTACK]

Funny , I kinda thought he might have been gay...

Oh well

[Marcus13]

Such a sensitive world we live in

[OsirusCeltics]

Once this footage aired, the league had no choice.  You absolutely have to come down on things like that in today's society, if you don't want to lose valuable sponsors.

However, if I am the league, I would be furious with ESPN.  This is the reason they have the game on a delay, and for them to actually show that puts the league in a terrible position. 

Yup its all about the money. Personally, I don't think the NBA actually cares about being "socially aware"

[Finkelskyhook]

LOL. Man, I love that Finkelskyhook refers to gays as a "fringe" group. Hey! Who cares if they're offended?! There aren't that many of them that watch the sport anyway.

As if that should matter.

From an NBA standpoint, do you think gays or illegal aliens are a prominent demographic?  I'll go back to the marketing.  How many commercials do you see that appear to target these demographics?  From an NBA standpoint, IMHO, these are fringe groups.

I didn't say it shouldn't matter.  I do think to overtly pander to any group to the degree that Stern is doing is counterproductive.  If he's really worried about cleaning up the NBA, you start by officiating by the rulebook.  You then go to the language on the court....And off the court.  The people paying for the product deserve better.

What group is next?  I have a suggestion.... Why don't we have an NBA PSA about bullying....Another prominent victim group...Let's have the ad nauseum replays of Bynum's hit on Barea and loop it about a gazillion times like ESPN did...Then have Bynum yell "NOT COOL...NOT COOL.....

[Rondo2287]

LOL. Man, I love that Finkelskyhook refers to gays as a "fringe" group. Hey! Who cares if they're offended?! There aren't that many of them that watch the sport anyway.

As if that should matter.

From an NBA standpoint, do you think gays or illegal aliens are a prominent demographic?  I'll go back to the marketing.  How many commercials do you see that appear to target these demographics?  From an NBA standpoint, IMHO, these are fringe groups.

I didn't say it shouldn't matter.  I do think to overtly pander to any group to the degree that Stern is doing is counterproductive.  If he's really worried about cleaning up the NBA, you start by officiating by the rulebook.  You then go to the language on the court....And off the court.  The people paying for the product deserve better.

What group is next?  I have a suggestion.... Why don't we have an NBA PSA about bullying....Another prominent victim group...Let's have the ad nauseum replays of Bynum's hit on Barea and loop it about a gazillion times like ESPN did...Then have Bynum yell "NOT COOL...NOT COOL.....

I think you are incredibly misinformed if you think that Gays are the only people offended by the slur Noah used.

[Finkelskyhook]

LOL. Man, I love that Finkelskyhook refers to gays as a "fringe" group. Hey! Who cares if they're offended?! There aren't that many of them that watch the sport anyway.

As if that should matter.

From an NBA standpoint, do you think gays or illegal aliens are a prominent demographic?  I'll go back to the marketing.  How many commercials do you see that appear to target these demographics?  From an NBA standpoint, IMHO, these are fringe groups.

I didn't say it shouldn't matter.  I do think to overtly pander to any group to the degree that Stern is doing is counterproductive.  If he's really worried about cleaning up the NBA, you start by officiating by the rulebook.  You then go to the language on the court....And off the court.  The people paying for the product deserve better.

What group is next?  I have a suggestion.... Why don't we have an NBA PSA about bullying....Another prominent victim group...Let's have the ad nauseum replays of Bynum's hit on Barea and loop it about a gazillion times like ESPN did...Then have Bynum yell "NOT COOL...NOT COOL.....

I think you are incredibly misinformed if you think that Gays are the only people offended by the slur Noah used.

I'm really not.  I think if you've read any of my posts about Garnett's antics as well as some other player's, you'd see that I'm actually consistent.  Either clean all of it up or none of it.  I don't want to hear gay slurs anymore than I want to hear Garnett spitting (literally) F-Bombs every other time down the floor or the heckler doing it from the stands.  A guy bringing his wife and young kids to a game deserve to enjoy it.  But to overreact to selected stuff to this degree and not address the other stuff is counterproductive.

I told myself, for obvious reasons, that I wasn't going to watch the Bulls/messiah series.  I went over to it twice.  The first time the Bulls were up and the only question I had was how the officials were going to take the lead away.  Within a minute a charge is called on a ridiculous messiah overt flop that would have made a Ginobili flop look like a McHale clothsline.  Right in front of the officials.  The next time I turned back to the game, within a minute, was the ridiculous flagrant 1 called on Boozer on what was nothing more than a pedestrian playoff foul...It'll almost certainly be "reversed".  But Stern gets the result he wants.  LOL...I wonder how the Finals will turn out with Stern's beloved binky's team playing against the team with the only owner who overtly challenges the officiating issue??  Hmm....

That's the problem.  Noah's slur is a product of said problem.  The players see the obvious...Add a profane idiot in the stands heckling...I'm surprised there's not more of it.

[Chris]

Once this footage aired, the league had no choice.  You absolutely have to come down on things like that in today's society, if you don't want to lose valuable sponsors.

However, if I am the league, I would be furious with ESPN.  This is the reason they have the game on a delay, and for them to actually show that puts the league in a terrible position. 

Yup its all about the money. Personally, I don't think the NBA actually cares about being "socially aware"

I don't know if there are any successful corporations in America who are genuinely concerned with that.  Its about making money.  And there is nothing wrong with that IMO.

[MBz]

LOL. Man, I love that Finkelskyhook refers to gays as a "fringe" group. Hey! Who cares if they're offended?! There aren't that many of them that watch the sport anyway.

As if that should matter.

From an NBA standpoint, do you think gays or illegal aliens are a prominent demographic?  I'll go back to the marketing.  How many commercials do you see that appear to target these demographics?  From an NBA standpoint, IMHO, these are fringe groups.

I didn't say it shouldn't matter.  I do think to overtly pander to any group to the degree that Stern is doing is counterproductive.  If he's really worried about cleaning up the NBA, you start by officiating by the rulebook.  You then go to the language on the court....And off the court.  The people paying for the product deserve better.

What group is next?  I have a suggestion.... Why don't we have an NBA PSA about bullying....Another prominent victim group...Let's have the ad nauseum replays of Bynum's hit on Barea and loop it about a gazillion times like ESPN did...Then have Bynum yell "NOT COOL...NOT COOL.....

I think you are incredibly misinformed if you think that Gays are the only people offended by the slur Noah used.

I'm really not.  I think if you've read any of my posts about Garnett's antics as well as some other player's, you'd see that I'm actually consistent.  Either clean all of it up or none of it.  I don't want to hear gay slurs anymore than I want to hear Garnett spitting (literally) F-Bombs every other time down the floor or the heckler doing it from the stands.  A guy bringing his wife and young kids to a game deserve to enjoy it.  But to overreact to selected stuff to this degree and not address the other stuff is counterproductive.

I told myself, for obvious reasons, that I wasn't going to watch the Bulls/messiah series.  I went over to it twice.  The first time the Bulls were up and the only question I had was how the officials were going to take the lead away.  Within a minute a charge is called on a ridiculous messiah overt flop that would have made a Ginobili flop look like a McHale clothsline.  Right in front of the officials.  The next time I turned back to the game, within a minute, was the ridiculous flagrant 1 called on Boozer on what was nothing more than a pedestrian playoff foul...It'll almost certainly be "reversed".  But Stern gets the result he wants.  LOL...I wonder how the Finals will turn out with Stern's beloved binky's team playing against the team with the only owner who overtly challenges the officiating issue??  Hmm....

That's the problem.  Noah's slur is a product of said problem.  The players see the obvious...Add a profane idiot in the stands heckling...I'm surprised there's not more of it.

I understand what you mean with cleaning it up, but the slurs are just so much worse than your typical swears like the F-bomb.  Both are inappropriate words to be said in front of young children and I do think it would be better to eliminate all language like that as it is a public forum.  The f-bomb doesn't have as much meaning as a slur though.  I do think both can be offensive, but they need to start with the slurs first and eliminate those.  Once that happens then maybe you move onto the swearing, it's obvious something that can't happen overnight unless you start to threaten them with technical fouls.  I think the NBA really is its own worst enemy.  They've allowed to many things to slip through the crack and they're really starting to catch up with them now.  Just one example is how the players interact with the officials.  I am a certified HS official, obviously much different then the NBA, but for me, it's completely inappropriate for me to talk to the players and it's inappropriate for them to have conversations with me. 

[Chelm]

On a side note: Do gays even watch sports? Almost all of the sponsorship during games are geared to hetero-males.

This is so condescending.  You do realize that more than 18-34 year old heterosexual white males watch sports, right?  If you're over 34, marketers care about you just as little as they care about women and homosexuals.

For the record, I have gay friends that watch sports.  Hell, one of them was a defensive lineman at Cal ten years ago.