Rondo's Anti-Gay Tirade Towards Bill Kennedy

[Endless Paradise]

I first read about this on another website, and they (the commenters) had an interesting perspective, one that assumed Rondo didn't know Kennedy is homosexual. After reading the NBA "report" (or whatever it's called), I got the impression that Kennedy was using this as his "coming out" moment. Was it possible that Rondo didn't know Kennedy is homosexual, chose one slur over another for no reason, and then offended Kennedy on a deeper level than intended?

If not, Rondo sure knows how to hit below the belt with his words.

I don't think Rondo not knowing is on the table. That's a pretty rosy assumption.

Why?

Apparently many of Kennedy's peers didn't know.  Is calling somebody a gay slur really only used when somebody has the genuine belief that the other party is gay?  Did Rondo also really believe that Kennedy fornicates with his mother?

A few NBA insiders have stated it wasn't exactly a secret that Kennedy was gay and, if you believe the Doc Rivers/Bill Kennedy thing - which definitely seems pretty [dang] true at this point - it's kinda hard to believe that Rondo wouldn't have known.

[JSD]

Obviously he didn't know he was gay. Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

[JSD]

Should get the Donald Sterling treatment

Sarcasm I hope.

[PhoSita]

It doesn't seem likely to me that Rondo hadn't at least heard rumors about Kennedy's sexual orientation. 

While we can't know for sure what Rondo knew or did not know, it seems much more likely that he chose to attack Kennedy with exactly the words he felt would be most hurtful in that moment.

I dunno why there's an urge to defend him.  Look, everybody makes mistakes and everybody harbors prejudice on some level.  Incidents like this shouldn't define a person.  But that doesn't mean we need to apologize for his actions in this instance.  A hateful verbal assault of this kind is more than just name calling in a moment of anger.  There is power to words like that.  It's an assault.  A person in Kennedy's position couldn't be blamed if they felt more hurt by what Rondo did than if Rondo had punched him in the face.

Like I said earlier.  Rondo got off easy.

[TheReaLPuba]

Someone tell me when another player has been suspended for deragatory statements towards a ref?

It doesn't matter that Kennedy is in fact gay.

Other players have been saying terrible things in frustration towards refs, players, and even fans and they only get fined.

A suspension is overkill.

Furthermore Rondo would never have said that stuff if he was ejected for just looking at the guy.

This is nothing more than PR fluff for the NBA because Kennedy came out publically saying he's a homosexual.

[JSD]

It doesn't seem likely to me that Rondo hadn't at least heard rumors about Kennedy's sexual orientation. 

While we can't know for sure what Rondo knew or did not know, it seems much more likely that he chose to attack Kennedy with exactly the words he felt would be most hurtful in that moment.

I dunno why there's an urge to defend him.  Look, everybody makes mistakes and everybody harbors prejudice on some level.  Incidents like this shouldn't define a person.  But that doesn't mean we need to apologize for his actions in this instance.  A hateful verbal assault of this kind is more than just name calling in a moment of anger.  There is power to words like that.  It's an assault.  A person in Kennedy's position couldn't be blamed if they felt more hurt by what Rondo did than if Rondo had punched him in the face.

Like I said earlier.  Rondo got off easy.

More hurt than if Rondo punched him in the face? You have got to be kidding me. My God, words are just words, physical assault in a whole other ballgame. There is nothing here to suggest he did know, so I'm going to assume he's telling the truth, and that he did not mean it as a slur.

I agree he got off easy. In this climate, I'm surprised he wasn't thrown out of the league.

[alley oop]

..

[freshinthehouse]

If the league could milk Bill Kennedy number 55 jersey sales like they did with Jason Collins when he came out they would.Referees shouldn't be bringing attention to themselves in any form, just stay in the background and do your job to the best of your ability, the paying customers don't come to see you they come to see the players.

Pretty sure the NBA dedicated all proceeds from Jason Collins jersey sales to the Matthew Sheppard Foundation, which is a pretty stand up move on their part.

[Neurotic Guy]

Obviously he didn't know he was gay. Let's not make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Slight disagreement.  I think it's neither a mountain nor a molehill.  This is something to be responded to whether or not Rondo knew he was gay.  However the response is more powerful as a social condemnation of the word  and a spark for some learning and discussion rather than suspensions.  Hopefully this episode leads to lessening the use of the word than increasing it.  I do believe that use of  this word has been  accepted in male culture used both casually and venomously to promote anothing from humor to disgust  to hostility to violence --  and I have no doubt that many gay or effeminate boys/men have seen their peers galvanize group hostility around the use of the word.  Words are powerful and draw deep emotion and Rondo should get a stern societal reprimand for his public tirade.  A strong societal reaction -- as he's getting -- that this isn't acceptable  behavior is the best response.  Hopefully he and others who use the word are getting the message.

[JSD]

Those in need of a message getting are the ones getting bent out of shape over the use of a word. Develop thicker skin, "sticks and stones..." as they say. Our society has grown absolutely intolerant of "offensive" language. The 1st amendment wasn't implemented to talk about the weather. And I get that the NBA is a private company, so it's their right to punish Rondo how they see fit, but there are people around us that would support criminal legislation outlawing certain words. That to me is a lot scarier than the use of any of them.

[Eja117]

If we wanna talk about hypotheticals though, if JJ Redick was caught dropping a N-bomb on a black player, coach, or referee, he'd be known as a bigot forever. Danny Ferry went through something similar, when he made an offensive racist comparison to Luol Deng, reading from a scouting report he didn't write. He shouldn't have said it regardless, or he should learn to better prepare for conference calls, but #justsayin.

Literally dozens of players and coaches from varied races have come forward in support of Ferry, specifically in support of Ferry getting another shot in the front office somewhere, maintaining that the comment was not representative of Ferry's mindset.

But Rondo, said something at least as much or more offensive, clearly personally directed right at Kennedy, to demean him, and he's getting crap about it now, but he'll apologize and we'll all move on. And Kennedy will have to ref his games again, knowing what Rondo thinks of him, knowing that hate is there.

In a lot of corporate environments, that justifies a hostile workplace.

And I'm not saying players don't say similar things to each other during the games, and I'm not saying fans don't say worse to players, and I'm not saying Rondo should be thrown out of the league or that he should be paraded through town and shamed or anything.

I'm just saying, if we're looking for a hypothetical double standard, I think we're already seeing one as Rondo's name will fade from the headlines and the world will just forget this happened.

You are generally right here. There is a current arbitrary hierarchy of victimhood and the N word ranks at the top, with gay stuff a little below somewhere around women stuff and Jewish stuff, with anti-Christian sentiment being the most acceptable.
Rondo committed the thought crime du jour and he should be punished for it.

And people absolutely make anti-Christian statements quite frequently. Even in sports. When players decide not to go to the White House when they win a championship because they don't want to shake hands with a president that voted against the born alive act 4 times, do you think they get off scott free? Of course not. They don't exactly get the honored Sandy Koufax/Muhammed Ali martyr treatment (which those guys absolutely totally deserved. I wish there were more of them.) 

[Eja117]

AC Green was picked on because he was a virgin, not because he was a Christian.  Maybe a little bit for his gheri curl too!

Right but his virginity was clearly an expression and major aspect of his Christianity just like Tebow. 

Kinda surprised AC didn't get the SNL hate skit like Tebow got.

I don't agree with the skit being a 'hate skit', I think the skit satirized how the media and some of his most fervent fans (and Tebow himself to a degree) had made Tebow out to be some kind of chosen son based on his faith and the unorthodox way he was winning games.

But if there was a flamboyantly gay athlete SNL would not just politely tip-tow around that. That would come up, frequently. Him and Stefan would get married in an hour-long special on a Thursday after football was over. The Ambiguously Gay Duo would be the best men and Kate McKinnon would do the service in an Ellen impersonation.

More like Vanity Fair woman of the Year.   

Do people watch SNL any more? I know they had that big special, but I'm not sure people watch it. The AGD hasn't been on since 2011.

[Eja117]

There are two things I'm not sure I love about it and that is that I'm not sure one has a right to go through life never being called anything bad, especially when doing a terrible job.

The other thing is that I am under the impression AC Green used to routinely get made fun of in game for being a devout Christian and I'm sure Tebow is too, and nobody really cares about that, reinforcing the notion that the league is essentially a pick and choose arbitrary league when it comes to enforcing morality.

However Rondo certainly has no right to go through life like this consequence free either, and it being their league the NBA can do what it sees fit, and protect the image of their league as they see fit.  Personally I don't think this holds a candle to what Sully was accused of, but that's just me.

Have you ever looked around at U.S. professional sports and noticed how many players praise God after winning ball games and making big plays?  I highly doubt that professional athletes get ostracized and treated with bigotry and hatred for being Christian.

Pounding your chest and pointing at the sky doesn't exactly make you Christian any more than having a high pitched voice or wearing pink makes you gay. I will agree to disagree with your assertion.

Honestly, I have no idea what makes one Christian, but I am convinced that Christians aren't a discriminated against group in U.S. professional sports or in general U.S. society for that matter.

Perhaps if you knew what makes one Christian you would think differently. I mean I'm not very aware of black culture and I can say all day I'm sure they aren't a discriminated against group...but I wouldn't do that realistically.

Black people are, and have historically been, a discriminated group in the U.S.  I didn't actually think that was arguable.

Christians have been the dominant religion in our society for a couple of centuries.  Lately, we are becoming a much more secular society than we ever were in the past.

It seems to me that there are people who mistake that secularization as discrimination against Christians.  To me, that's a ludicrous notion, and one that completely misses the point on what discrimination actually entails.

No. It's like this. If Rondo had gone after Kennedy's perceived Christianity/Catholicism (just guessing from the name Kennedy) and been like "You're such a f ing Bible thumper Bill. Go to confession and tell them all about your theft. Your mom should have aborted you to keep you out of purgatory you Pope loving piece of shiit"  then the NBA wouldn't have cared and people probably would have laughed about it a little. Or he would have gotten a game but for being mean to a ref. People wouldn't talk about it as a borderline hate crime. It's just the double standard of the times we're living in, and currently Christianity is the only group anyone can do that to.

I'm not saying for one second that what Rondo did was ok or that I feel bad for him or anything like that.

In the mean time this is a league that isn't exactly respectful to Christianity. They use basketball as a metaphor for church to sell sneakers and nickname their star King James the Chosen One.

Realistically this is the way it is now. On St. Patrick's Day we get drunk to honor the Irish patron saint and think nothing of serving corned beef and hash. Gee, us Catholic/Christians are so honored.

The NBA is by no means the only place this happens. Christians are used to this.

Ugh. Certain Christians and their victim mentality, despite regularly being the ones trying to push their theocracy.

And to mention James and 'the chosen one' is just ridiculous. There are all sorts of chosen ones out there in literature besides the Bible. The term transcends one's holy story of choice. And it is the Catholics getting drunk on St. Patrick's day as much as anyone else.

Complaining about these just sounds like being self-centered.

I am not saying for one second that Christians are some horribly aggrieved group right now, like it's just 1936 Germany for Christians out there.

I'm saying they're at the bottom of the arbitrary ever changing PC hierarchy of political and societal correctness.

If for MLK Day you told all your friends "Hey let's all act black and eat fried chicken and watermelon and listen to rap music today!" you'd be persona non grata very quickly, and very rightly.

St Patricks Day....let's get drunk and eat cabbage and corned beef? ......No big deal.

Let's make fun of Christians all year, then buy a bunch of stuff for ourselves and trample people at Wal-Mart for Christmas? No big deal. 

It's just the world we live in now. 

[saltlover]

If we wanna talk about hypotheticals though, if JJ Redick was caught dropping a N-bomb on a black player, coach, or referee, he'd be known as a bigot forever. Danny Ferry went through something similar, when he made an offensive racist comparison to Luol Deng, reading from a scouting report he didn't write. He shouldn't have said it regardless, or he should learn to better prepare for conference calls, but #justsayin.

Literally dozens of players and coaches from varied races have come forward in support of Ferry, specifically in support of Ferry getting another shot in the front office somewhere, maintaining that the comment was not representative of Ferry's mindset.

But Rondo, said something at least as much or more offensive, clearly personally directed right at Kennedy, to demean him, and he's getting crap about it now, but he'll apologize and we'll all move on. And Kennedy will have to ref his games again, knowing what Rondo thinks of him, knowing that hate is there.

In a lot of corporate environments, that justifies a hostile workplace.

And I'm not saying players don't say similar things to each other during the games, and I'm not saying fans don't say worse to players, and I'm not saying Rondo should be thrown out of the league or that he should be paraded through town and shamed or anything.

I'm just saying, if we're looking for a hypothetical double standard, I think we're already seeing one as Rondo's name will fade from the headlines and the world will just forget this happened.

You are generally right here. There is a current arbitrary hierarchy of victimhood and the N word ranks at the top, with gay stuff a little below somewhere around women stuff and Jewish stuff, with anti-Christian sentiment being the most acceptable.
Rondo committed the thought crime du jour and he should be punished for it.

And people absolutely make anti-Christian statements quite frequently. Even in sports. When players decide not to go to the White House when they win a championship because they don't want to shake hands with a president that voted against the born alive act 4 times, do you think they get off scott free? Of course not. They don't exactly get the honored Sandy Koufax/Muhammed Ali martyr treatment (which those guys absolutely totally deserved. I wish there were more of them.)

No, there is NOT an arbitrary hierarchy of victimhood.  Black people were legally discriminated against (and much worse) in this country for 360 years, and there is large amounts of structural racism they have to overcome on a daily basis.  Gay people are legally allowed to be fired for being gay in a majority of states in this country.  Millions of Jews were systematically killed for being Jewish, and many of those fleeing were kept out of this country due to anti-Semitism here.  It is a rational hierarchy based on the actual amount of victimhood that various groups face in this country.

I mean, it's frankly offensive that you'd compare being criticized in the press for not shaking hands with the president on the same plane as having staff watch you closely just for entering their store because they think you might steal from them, not getting jobs you're qualified for, being fired simply because you got married and put your new spouse on your health insurance, or having the state deny you parental rights.  Seriously, I'm sorry you feel persecuted, but you are so out of touch with reality that it's mind-boggling. 

[Eja117]

It doesn't seem likely to me that Rondo hadn't at least heard rumors about Kennedy's sexual orientation. 

While we can't know for sure what Rondo knew or did not know, it seems much more likely that he chose to attack Kennedy with exactly the words he felt would be most hurtful in that moment.

I dunno why there's an urge to defend him.  Look, everybody makes mistakes and everybody harbors prejudice on some level.  Incidents like this shouldn't define a person.  But that doesn't mean we need to apologize for his actions in this instance.  A hateful verbal assault of this kind is more than just name calling in a moment of anger.  There is power to words like that.  It's an assault.  A person in Kennedy's position couldn't be blamed if they felt more hurt by what Rondo did than if Rondo had punched him in the face.

Like I said earlier.  Rondo got off easy.

I agree with you. I look at it from the point of view of Rondo's mom (if I were her). If I have an 8 year old and he comes home from school and they tell me he just went off on a kid like that I'd be horrified. He'd be in a ton of trouble and he knows it. It's not an option. An 8 year old knows he's not supposed to bully and do stuff like that. But Rondo is almost 30 and did that in front of 30,000 people.  Whether he has done it before or did or didn't know is irrelevant. A month suspension wouldn't bother me.

And just because some people barely get punished for other things, doesn't get Rondo off the hook. I don't care if the school didn't punish some other kid or some other parent didn't punish their kid. Irrelevant.