You might have read the great, if sad story about Rick Welts, the president of the Phoenix Suns, who just came out of the closet in the New York Times last week (read it if you haven't). The most depressing part of the story is that the day after Welts told NBA commisioner David Stern about his sexuality, Kobe Bryant was caught on camera mouthing the words 'fucking faggot' to a referee. Bryant was fined, but yesterday Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls was caught on camera mouthing practically the exact same words at a fan.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26QqAOrXHes[/youtube]
Noah has apologized, but the incident has proven that the problem will not just vanish over night. While the words of retired players like Charles Barkley give one hope that the NBA can move into the 21st century, it's becoming clearer that homophobia is pretty entrenched in NBA culture.
