Rondo's Anti-Gay Tirade Towards Bill Kennedy

[Vox_Populi]

Two points:

1) This is a case where politicial correctness IS correct and has the power (thankfully) to elicit an evolved social response.  People shouldn't slur others (my opinion, your right to disagree) and Rondo should be getting the  social consequences he is getting.  People, gay and straight, liberal and conservative, are saying "hey, we aren't going to let gay slurs just happen without a response -- not anymore".  Rondo should get every disapproving look he has coming to him.

2) Beyond general disapproval I don't see the need for suspension. If players typically get a game suspension for verbal assault on a ref, then fine.  Otherwise, no need for a suspension.   Political correctness itself is not the problem.   The problem within political correctness is going to unnecessary extremes to prove how offended we are.   As an American I am definitely bothered by Rondo's insensitivity and his public modeling of 10-year old maturity.   But I am perfectly satisfied for people to simply tell him that we don't do that to people in this culture anymore.

A quick and firm social consequence has been applied -- in my opinion, nothing more is needed. 

To the person who said "any of us are capable of saying anything" -- probably true, but we are responsible for the things that come out of our mouths -- even in anger.   That said, this doesn't make Rondo a terrorist or Hitler.  Hopefully he moves on and doesn't do it again.  How he handles it with the ref, the gay community, and society in general is up to him.

Very good post.

[SCeltic34]

Devil's advocate here, but did Rondo even know Kennedy was gay?  A lot of his peers didn't seem to know, so I'm not sure that we can assume that Rondo did.  Sure, he called him a gay slur, but he also suggested that Kennedy fornicates with his mother.  He was angry; accuracy probably wasn't his #1 goal.

Kobe got $100k for an abusive gay slur.  Rondo's punishment should be in that range.

I wondered that myself.  That word gets tossed around pretty frequently in the sports world, I'd imagine.  But that's a pretty choice word for an official.  And he said it twice.

[hwangjini_1]

Devil's advocate here, but did Rondo even know Kennedy was gay?  A lot of his peers didn't seem to know, so I'm not sure that we can assume that Rondo did.  Sure, he called him a gay slur, but he also suggested that Kennedy fornicates with his mother.  He was angry; accuracy probably wasn't his #1 goal.

Kobe got $100k for an abusive gay slur.  Rondo's punishment should be in that range.

I wondered that myself.  That word gets tossed around pretty frequently in the sports world, I'd imagine.  But that's a pretty choice word for an official.  And he said it twice.

nm

[Redz]

Mentioned on 98.5 Sports Hub today...back history from Tim Donaghy dating back to Doc Rivers comments about Kennedy's sexuality and the ref's perceived anti-Celtics bias thereafter.

http://thebiglead.com/2015/12/14/tim-donaghy-bill-kennedy-boston-celtics/

[KeepRondo]

Kings GM Vlade Divac said Rajon Rondo told him today, "He feels bad and didn't mean to offend anyone. It was in the heat of frustration."

"I didn't mean to offend anyone."

That's complete BS. 


What Rondo said went beyond frustration.  It was the verbal equivalent of spitting in Kennedy's face.  Of course he meant to offend.

I believe he meant that he didn't mean to offend the gay community. As far as Kennedy, I don't think he cares about his feelings.

[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. 

[notbillsimmons]

Kobe said the same type things in a game----and he's done worse---He's getting love from all around the league on his farewell tour....Overblown.

Kennedy is probably a great guy---but he's an awful ref.

AGREED!

[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.

[Celtics18]

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.

But, Rondo didn't do that.  Nobody does that.  That's the point, people don't pick on Christians, despite your bizarre claims to the contrary. 

Is there something anti-Christian about serving corned beef and hash?!

[indeedproceed]

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. [redacted] to keep you out of purgatory you Pope loving piece of****"  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.

Usually I'm on board for a good hypothetical, but that is a complete strawman, and I'd say it's wrong on top of that. If Rondo had targeted him like that, to that degree, he would have still been suspended 2 games. Especially if everyone could corroborate exactly what he said.

[freshinthehouse]

C'mon, cut the guy some slack.  He was visibly angry and frustrated.  Anyone of us is capable of saying anything at those moments.

No slack - not when it comes to straight bigotry like that.  Being angry doesn't justify those types of comments.  What if Bill Kennedy was a white man, and in an enraged response to Rondo's insults replied "F- you (racial slur)".  Would you cut Bill slack?

Big difference.  One had different meanings not long ago and used for any type of person for certain behaviors.  The other stayed thesame, has thesame meaning throughout history, and used towards thesame group of people throughout history.  No ambiguity with one where, aurguably, there is with the other.

That's irrelevant.  If the word n----r used to mean something else 50 years ago, would that make it acceptable for a white player to call a black player by it today?  Of course not.  Same goes for any gay slur.  It's not like this is a case of mistaken word definition.  Rondo knew exactly what he was saying.

You are being totally dishonest.  The N word has no other meaning when it's used by a white person.  Get outta here.  It means thesame today as it did 50 yrs ago.

Uh, I never said it did.  Read my post.  Find a dictionary and learn the definition of the word "If." Then get back to us.

[kozlodoev]

If Rondo had targeted him like that, to that degree, he would have still been suspended 2 games.

As far as I recall, he was suspended 1 game for the current offense. Not sure where the 2 game talk comes from.

[indeedproceed]

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.

[indeedproceed]

If Rondo had targeted him like that, to that degree, he would have still been suspended 2 games.

As far as I recall, he was suspended 1 game for the current offense. Not sure where the 2 game talk comes from.

Oh wow. He should've gotten at least 2 games. Man I don't understand the NBA's punishment structure.

[moiso]

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.

You are right, but I'm sure players would talk about how he never got laid, I doubt they even cared what his reason was.  I'm sure he didn't have to hear anti Christian trash talk, but but I'm sure he heard plenty of get some vagina trash talk.