Kobe Bryant On Anti-Gay Slur: 'Kill That Word'

Kobe Bryant made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday and addressed the anti-gay slur he screamed at referee Bennie Adams during Tuesday night's game against the Spurs.

The Lakers star, who was fined $100,000 by the NBA for the remark, said his outburst was "stupid and ignorant."

"It's about getting that message out there man, to kill that word," he said. "Just don't use it, just don't use it. And hopefully others can learn from the situation that occured and just knock that word out completely."

Bryant went on to say that he hasn't reached out to Adams because he wasn't sure if players are allowed to contact officials off the court.

It was announced on Friday that the Lakers and the NBA have partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to address anti-gay slurs in basketball.

Comments

[FaceTheTruth00]

03:31 AM on 04/19/2011

Oh jeez, he made a heat of the moment comment and has apologized for it repeatedly.

I wonder how many people here have insulted others; on this very website even; throwing around insults towards someone else's race, religion or political leanings? I'll bet a lot.

[cliffhammond]

02:27 AM on 04/19/2011

It's pretty obvious from these statements that Kobe's vocabulary is limited to violence. "Kill that word"? "Knock that word out completely"? I think we can all see that there will be plenty more apologies in his future.

[Chase Price]

12:47 AM on 04/19/2011

Trade Kobe.

[Artamentous]

11:29 PM on 04/18/2011

Kobe should have called it like it is. That word in 99% of it's usage now a days has nothing to do with homosexuality. It's so ingrained in pop culture now (South Park? Pretty much any topical adult comedy has the word as well). If this word spreads hate why in the last 15 years has the rights gays and lesbians advanced so far? I think it's pretty outrageous. But whatever, I can't say the word anymore, because it's so terrible. Pfft.

Louis CK was dead on.

[procrustes13]

07:00 PM on 04/18/2011

What if you just want to smoke a cigarette? It's a perfectly legitimate word for that.

[Holly H]

05:11 PM on 04/18/2011

Gay people would have to stop using the word and I doubt boys will stop calling other boys "f4g"...in some ways its used as a term of endearment...same as nigg4. The homosexual community can't asked for equal rights then infringe on people's right to FREE speech. I'm a lesbian and I have a problem with the focus on individual language being the problem when the real problem is much more institutionalized.

[samba2623]

04:47 PM on 04/18/2011

After the "rape" case in 2003 and the homophobic slur this year. I'm wondering what Kobe's third strike will be ...

[PatA]

10:13 PM on 04/18/2011

3 strikes and you're out doesn't apply to star athletes. if so, the NFL would only have about 5 players per team.

[emperance]

01:23 AM on 04/19/2011

Or less.

[samba2623]

12:28 PM on 04/19/2011

lol that's true

[ThinkTwiceWriteOnce]

02:27 PM on 04/18/2011

......but I will be appealing the fine nonetheless.......

[Suzanne Graves]

12:33 PM on 04/18/2011

Don't know much about this man, other than the fact that he just made major points with every mother in the world.

[PatA]

01:48 PM on 04/18/2011

which man? kobe?

[Hardyman1966]

04:26 PM on 04/17/2011

I love taking ethics advice from someone who is only speaking on the matter because he got caught.  It makes any apology meaningless.  

One would think an overpaid sports figure, who is likely unemployable in any other field at this point, could afford some better words.

[Bob Kellerman]

07:14 PM on 04/17/2011

Some of us are NOT jealous of folks who acheive fame, money, and adulation, but do not show GRATITUDE by behaving decently.

[DHWRD]

05:19 AM on 04/18/2011

Glad to know you are in the mindset to think a man who brings hundreds of millions to his employer is overpaid. Glad to know you think Kobe Bryant is unemployable ( even though he speaks 4 different languages). No one is asking you to take ethic lessons from Kobe Bryant or listen to anything he says. Your post is typical of people like you who use prejudice in response to a negative incident. Glad to know you can search a man's soul to evaluate if his apology is sincere or not. Maybe you can use those skills in your job so you can be overpaid.

[Hardyman1966]

08:17 AM on 04/18/2011

Feel better now?

[PatA]

01:49 PM on 04/18/2011

did you honestly buy the non-apology? if so, i'm sorry.

[MXL]

03:37 PM on 04/17/2011

"...the Lakers and the NBA have partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to address anti-gay slurs in basketball."

What does "address anti-gay slurs" mean, exactly?

[Bob Kellerman]

05:48 PM on 04/17/2011

One hopes that it means "remove the culture of thinking these slurs are OK to use, particularly when used as Kooby Doo did -- to suggest that it insults a person to include him with Gays and portray him and Gays as weak and wrong"

[DHWRD]

05:21 AM on 04/18/2011

Can you give us an idea what words are okay to use when one is mad? MFer is not good due to Mothers complaining. AH is not okay due to male gays. SOB is not okay due to the PETA people. Gosh Darn is taken by the Mayberry people. Can you please give us a list of words a person can use if they get upset ?

[Suzanne Graves]

01:58 PM on 04/18/2011

It means that mothers' of a gay child, like myself, are impressed as hell.
I've never been a fan of professional sports. The bad behavior allowed by men, simply because they are good playing a game, makes me crazy.
But I am impressed with Mr. Bryant at this point. Yes, he said something stupid in the heat of the moment..we all have.
To me, what constitutes the true measure of a person, is how they proceed from that point on.
Mr. Bryant has decided to step up, act like a good man and father, and to take this opportunity to provide a teachable moment at his own expense.
The Black Community took quite a hit after the passage of Prop 8 In Ca. But I was always certain, that if any community would set to right a moral wrong, it would be America's Black Community.
Although I never pictured it happening in the sports arena......
If all you sports fans, can just take a moment to look at this through a different prism..you might be able to see, why this Mother thinks that this is a very, very cool moment in time.. and one we should be proud of...

[PatA]

10:18 PM on 04/18/2011

I'm a mother and grandmother who is trying to explain to my granddaughter why Mr. Bryant said what he said to the referee. She plays basketball and does rock climbing. She told me that she could never be rude to her coaches because 1. it isn't right and 2. she would lose her place on the team.

She is "amazed that he didn't know better". What do I say to that?

[Mike Sprinkel]

01:55 PM on 04/17/2011

Was the referee gay?

[Bob Kellerman]

05:49 PM on 04/17/2011

No, which makes it worse -- think awhile and read the threads here and on the first article about this, if you don't get it

[jimmygeewhiz]

11:29 AM on 04/17/2011

What a disgusting person.

[mftinvermont]

07:58 AM on 04/17/2011

Maybe the next time I get angry at a bIack person I use the "N".

How'd that work out for ya Bryant?

[Paul The Octopus]

06:29 PM on 04/17/2011

The referee wasn't a homosexual.

[Floridafish]

07:06 PM on 04/17/2011

What does that matter? As if somehow, because he wasn't gay, it was more insulting? Really? The word is insulting no matter who it's directed at.

[mftinvermont]

05:31 AM on 04/18/2011

How do you know?

[DHWRD]

07:01 PM on 04/17/2011

It would be par for the course ... don't act like you have never used it before , thought about using it or heard someone use it ...

[mftinvermont]

05:32 AM on 04/18/2011

I've never used that word.

[Bob Kellerman]

04:56 AM on 04/17/2011

On the NY Times NBA Blog -- John Amaeici - a REAL man, a Gay man, former NBA
http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/a-gay-former-player-responds-to-kobe-bryant/?hp

(exerpts)
I am tired of people having this debate about the relative impact of pejorative words on their target minority group. If injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then the relative power of an antigay gay slur is irrelevant, it is simply a threat to human dignity, and that should appall us all.

Kobe, stop fighting the fine. You spoke ill-advised words that shot out like bullets, and if the e-mails I received from straight and gay young people and sports fans in Los Angeles alone are anything to go by, you did serious damage with your outburst.

A young man from a Los Angeles public school e-mailed me. You are his idol. He is playing up, on the varsity team, he has your posters all over his room, and he hopes one day to play in college and then in the N.B.A. with you. He used to fall asleep with images of passing you the ball to sink a game-winning shot. He watched every game you played this season on television, but this week he feels less safe and less positive about himself because he stared adoringly into your face as you said the word that haunts him in school every single day.

[Paul The Octopus]

06:30 PM on 04/17/2011

Say what?

[Mary Catherine Conway]

07:53 PM on 04/17/2011

too many words to read?

[PatA]

01:55 PM on 04/18/2011

#310, already fanned so faved this time!