Cam Thomas of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets has apologized for making an antigay comment after the Nets’ win over the Chicago Bulls Thursday night, but he’s still getting a $40,000 fine.
Thomas and Spencer Dinwiddie, who the Nets just acquired in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, were being interviewed by Jared Greenberg of TNT after the game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, ESPN reports. After the trade, Dinwiddie had said the Nets may not have gotten the best players, they got the “best-looking.” He added, “And the Nets needed some help in that department.”
When Greenberg asked Thomas about the remark, he said, “We already had good-looking guys, no homo.”
He quickly tweeted an apology, saying, “I want to apologize for the insensitive word I used in the postgame interview. I was excited about the win and was being playful. I definitely didn’t intend to offend anyone, but realize that I probably did. My apologies again. Much love.”
“As apologies go, it’s better than most, but his ‘no homo’ comment was still offensive and uttering it shows how front-of-mind it was, lest someone think complimenting another man’s look was somehow gay,” Jim Buzinski noted on Outsports.
He still faces consequences, though. He “has been fined $40,000 for using derogatory and disparaging language during a live television interview,” the NBA announced in a press release Friday.
Several other NBA players have been fined over the years for using homophobic language. They include Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls, Kevin Durant of the Nets, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, and the late Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.