Punishment

Kobe Bryant Fined for Homophobic Slur

Will pay $100,000 for insulting referee.

The National Basketball Association on Wednesday fined L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant $100,000 for using a homophobic slur against referee Bennie Adams. NBA Commissioner David Stern called Bryant’s comments “inexcusable,” and said “while I’m fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated.” During Tuesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, Bryant yelled “Bennie” from the bench after he received a technical foul, and then muttered what appeared to be a homophobic slur. Since the game featured two teams in a tight race for the Western Conference playoffs, the game was nationally broadcast on TNT, whose cameras picked up the incident. Bryant issued an apology Wednesday, saying “what I said last night should not be taken literally. My words were out frustration during the heat of the game, period.”