Rondo's Anti-Gay Tirade Towards Bill Kennedy

[2short]

Rondo's new statement is actually quite good. I don't doubt that he really feels this way. It does seem like he respects the LGBT community when not having anger management issues.

Rondo's problems is the level of contempt he feels for individuals then they anger him. We are all familiar with the contempt he showed for teammates as a rookie until Doc told him that teammates hated playing with him. He seems like that kind of person who will say whatever he things will hurt you in the moment. That does not mean that he doesn't regret if after the fact or that what he says represents his larger worldview.

None of this excuses what e said in the moment. But it doesn't make him Hitler.

Agree completely.  Part of what makes rondo an incredibly intelligent player, sees things others don't on court, plays connect four like a religion....is also the same thing that makes him give answers to reporters that turn heads, make him difficult to work with and his mouth doesn't have a filter.

[Roy H.]

He apologized? Where? Saying "I didn't mean to offend anyone" is only slightly about the ever-famous "If anyone was offended by my actions, I apologize." Heat of the moment? That's just swell. Apology? Still waiting.

Mike

There you go:



Are you happy now?

Who wrote that, his agent or a publicist hired by his agent?

[Roy H.]

Re-reading Rondo's comments, I'm just still kinda shocked. Pretty messed up.

It really goes beyond just cussing out a ref because they made a call you don't like.  Gives the impression of genuine contempt and vitriol.  An attempt to undercut and wound the man in the lowest way he could conjure in that moment.

Disappointing to see that come from a player that many fans still associate with the Celtics.

I lean toward him just having a nasty temper. That doesn't excuse it, but I know plenty of people (including myself) who have said vile things in an argument without legitimate hatred. Some people just go for blood when they're angry. It's in no way noble, but it's a reality.

[saynomore]

Who wrote that, his agent or a publicist hired by his agent?

That's what I'm saying: there's always will be some who displeased towards whatever he's doing. Another apology, another remark by you (or someone else) who insisting what it's fake. Why are you looking for something (apology from Rondo) if you going automatically call it fake an?

[wayupnorth]

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.

Right. Those things can and have happened, which is partly why....like I said....victimizing Christians ranks at the bottom. If you do it nobody cares. 

And it is totally arbitrary based on context. Some people get free passes to do and say horrible stuff and some don't. Rondo got caught clearly in front of 30,000 people and cameras so he didn't get the free pass. It was a little impossible for him to play the "I've had it way worse than you card" especially since he's a multi-millionaire to boot.

I don't think I'm making the case of who has had it worst or even of who is most justified feeling that way. I'm making the case of who it is easiest to abuse and get away with.  The why's are different.

Dominant groups being discriminated against is a debated topic. Is it possible for white people to be victims of Racism in America? If a society is set up by a group to benefit that group, what does it mean for them to be discriminated against?

I'd say there is a hierarchy of how much people care, with good reason. Christian is 2nd to bottom, just above white.

For what it's worth ~70% of American's identify as Christian and we've had fewer non-Christian presidents than non-white presidents. I don't feel bad for Tebow.

Is this meant to be a serious question?

Did you seriously just ask if it is possible for white people to be victims or racism here?

What an absolutely warped mindset.

[wayupnorth]

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.

On the contrary, we send too many people to prison.  I don't think we need more of that, by any means.  Punching somebody in the face might get you sent to prison, though, or at least put a criminal conviction on your record, even though it may very well do less lasting damage than a verbal assault like the one Rondo perpetrated on Kennedy.

Yeah, words are words.  I think one of the things we've learned by now, though, is that the idea that "Words can never hurt me" is false.  Of course words can hurt.

Bottom line, what Rondo did was supremely crappy.  It was an awful thing to do. Every bit as poor a way to handle one's anger than if he had used his fists instead of his mouth.

So no, let's not throw Rondo in jail.  But let's not apologize for him, or minimize his actions.  He let his anger get the better of him and he did something unacceptable (but by no means unforgivable) to another human being.  He should get grief and punishment for it.  It should affect his professional reputation and standing in a league that relies on a diverse viewing audience for its business.  Rondo should probably also make a sincere apology to Kennedy, if not to anybody else, and do something about his anger -- at least the way he chooses to handle it. 

Then we should all move on.

That's my feeling on this, anyway.

How on earth can you say that?

It is simply and utterly false.

If you can go to jail for punching someone, and you say what Rondo did is worse, how can you not be for jailing those that use hate speech?

Your logic is questionable at best.

[KeepRondo]

The more I think about this, the more I think Rondo really messed up more then just having an inappropriate outburst.

One of the posters said that any one of us can say things out of anger but I just doubt I would ever call someone a Fa****. It's such a harsh word and stings of extreme hatred for someone. I just can't back this kind of action.

I still think everyone deserves to be heard out. Hopefully Rondo never says what he did again.

Also, I think some people confuse humor like, that's so Gay, with calling someone a fa****. People just don't go around ribbing other guys and calling them Fa*****. So it's not like this is something Rondo might throw around often when ribbing teammates or opponents. So yeah, even though it would had still been wrong, if Rondo told Kennedy he was being Gay, I could understand his misstep. This one tho seems much worse.

[PhoSita]

How on earth can you say that?

It is simply and utterly false.

If you can go to jail for punching someone, and you say what Rondo did is worse, how can you not be for jailing those that use hate speech?

Your logic is questionable at best.

Note how I said that we already imprison too many people.

[PhoSita]

Re-reading Rondo's comments, I'm just still kinda shocked. Pretty messed up.

It really goes beyond just cussing out a ref because they made a call you don't like.  Gives the impression of genuine contempt and vitriol.  An attempt to undercut and wound the man in the lowest way he could conjure in that moment.

Disappointing to see that come from a player that many fans still associate with the Celtics.

I lean toward him just having a nasty temper. That doesn't excuse it, but I know plenty of people (including myself) who have said vile things in an argument without legitimate hatred. Some people just go for blood when they're angry. It's in no way noble, but it's a reality.

That's true, and I think most of us can relate to doing and saying things we regret when we're really angry.

At the same time, I think there's losing your head in the moment, and then there's allowing your anger to take you to a dark place and say something you know you can't take back.  Deciding in the moment that you don't care and letting the worst part of yourself come out and say the most hateful thing that you can find to say.  This instance with Rondo seems more like the latter, to me.

Again, I don't think it should define Rondo, because we all do things we regret, and individual actions shouldn't define a person.  At the same time, what he said was awful and I do think it says something about some part of Rondo, even if it shouldn't define him as a whole.  I don't think it's the case that any given person, when they get really angry, would resort to hateful language like that.

[Neurotic Guy]

Re-reading Rondo's comments, I'm just still kinda shocked. Pretty messed up.

It really goes beyond just cussing out a ref because they made a call you don't like.  Gives the impression of genuine contempt and vitriol.  An attempt to undercut and wound the man in the lowest way he could conjure in that moment.

Disappointing to see that come from a player that many fans still associate with the Celtics.

I lean toward him just having a nasty temper. That doesn't excuse it, but I know plenty of people (including myself) who have said vile things in an argument without legitimate hatred. Some people just go for blood when they're angry. It's in no way noble, but it's a reality.

It's a nasty temper, but with maybe an unusually poor capacity for self-control once triggered -- could account for the ref-bump as well.   I realize people say vile things in the heat of anger, but could you see yourself calling a woman the C-word or an African-American the N-word?  Add the fact that it's in public and you have an usually poor ability to inhibit ones own responses.  It's a problem.   But as I've said before, I'm not condemning him for life or supporting a suspension -- but I do think it's right that he gets the social consequence that he's getting. 

[wayupnorth]

How on earth can you say that?

It is simply and utterly false.

If you can go to jail for punching someone, and you say what Rondo did is worse, how can you not be for jailing those that use hate speech?

Your logic is questionable at best.

Note how I said that we already imprison too many people.

I know what you said, it simply doesn't make sense. If we gather from your post that:

A) "Someone should go to jail for beating someone."

B) "Verbally 'assaulting' someone is worse than a beating."

How does one logically come to the conclusion that verbal "assault" shouldn't land them jail time?

[Rosco917]

Rondo is trying to spin his horrendous verbal attack, saying that's not who he is, but as many have suspected, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The words didn't just magically jump out of his mouth, they were
formulated in his mind and used to verbally assault Bill Kennedy. In this day and age, it's a terrible assault, and infront of thousands of people, and children to boot.

Rondo is what he is, not everyone is a good person. 

[manl_lui]

to be honest, I don't see why this is such a big deal

What Rondo said was flat out wrong and unacceptable but he's probably just upset about the officiating and he's already suspended over that action already. I mean come on, we all call our friends that word probably once or twice, we most likely don't mean it. To me, what he said was probably equivalent to him just swearing. Are we living in a world where we have to be so PC that every word we say we have to blow it up bigger than it is? 

He's already suspended, ok let's move on

[saynomore]

to be honest, I don't see why this is such a big deal

What Rondo said was flat out wrong and unacceptable but he's probably just upset about the officiating and he's already suspended over that action already. I mean come on, we all call our friends that word probably once or twice, we most likely don't mean it. To me, what he said was probably equivalent to him just swearing. Are we living in a world where we have to be so PC that every word we say we have to blow it up bigger than it is? 

He's already suspended, ok let's move on

Yes and people using an excuse saying 'he's a public person', but does it mean what public figures has to be robots? I mean we are all humans, we all make mistakes and learning from them. He's not the first and not the last, no need to put nasty labels on him. Obviously lately Rondo is an easy target for any kind of hate, he can't even apologize right cause certainly it will be seen as an fake apology

[Evantime34]

Listened to WOJ's new podcast today with Adam Silver on this topic and I thought Silver came off well.

The problem with what Rondo said is that he used a gay slur on someone who he knew was gay. There is a difference between offhandedly using a slur on a random person and using a slur in anger specific to the person you are using it on.

Silver said he considered a heavier punishment because Rondo was using a slur on someone who he knew was gay. However, he didn't want to out Kennedy by giving Rondo a large suspension, since if Rondo got 2 or 3 games people would have realized it was a special circumstance. Kennedy then came out two days after the suspension.