Amare Stoudemire tweets anti-gay slur to fan, NBA will review
New York Knick star Amare Stoudemire reportedly tweeted an anti-gay slur at a fan who had sent him a tweet.
The fan, whose twitter handle is @BFerrelli, tweeted to Stoudemire: “You better come back stronger and quicker to make up for last season.” The tweet also had an obscenity at the end of the sentence.
Stoudemire then apparently sent a direct message to @BFerrelli, which included a gay slur and foul language. The fan took a screen capture of the message and tweeted it out for his followers to see. Numerous websites picked up on the incident and reposted the tweet.
Stoudemire then tried to make nice with the fan and sent him another direct message Sunday morning, which featured an apology.
Wrote Stoudemire: “I apologize for what I said earlier. I just got off the plane and had time to think about it. Sorry bro. No Excuses. Won’t happen again.”
Then fan retweeted that message as well.
The fan later wrote: “@Amareisreal sooo after all this that happened can I get a follow back or tickets to a game lol or is that pushing it?”
An NBA spokesman told Newsday in an email Sunday night that he’s confident that the tweets “will be reviewed” by the league.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has recently cracked down on players who make anti-gay comments.
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant received a $100,000 fine for calling a referee an anti-gay slur in April. A month later, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah received a $50,000 fine for shouting an anti-gay slur at a fan who was heckling him.
Soon after those events, the NBA created a public service announcement featuring Grant Hill and Jared Dudley of the Phoenix Suns to educate fans about homophobia.
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