cobl04
45:33
$100,000 for calling a ref a faggot!
2010-2011 NBA Thread Take 2
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shoulda been more... imagine what the outrage would be if a player dropped an N bomb on a ref. he'd be suspended for a long long time.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
Exactly what I said. My roommate disputed me, of course. He said, "It's like calling a ref a pussy! 10 or 15,000 no more!" I'm guessing that's what most people say.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, that Kobe.
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
I think they should be forcing something other than money out of him, to be honest.
Although for once the fine written up is actually a significant sum of money to the player...
Although for once the fine written up is actually a significant sum of money to the player...
OP
OP
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
I wouldn't go that far.
Kobe's salary this season is the NBA's highets at $24,806,250.00...so a $100,000.00 fine is about 4 tenths of a percent of his salary.
Its like an average Joe who makes $50,000 a year getting a $200 fine. Not pocket change, but not terribly significant.
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
Well yeah that's true, but regardless of what being chump change is to somebody, $100,000 is indeed a lot of money. I'm sure Kobe wasn't happy to hear that he has to lose $100K. Would you be, even if you made $24 million a year?
They didn't just do the slap-on-the-wrist $10,000 fine or so that [I believe] you see more often, right?
You're right, probably not significant to Kobe, but I mean it's a significant FIGURE of money. Is the 100K deducted from pay during his next games or does Kobe have to pay it up front? Not that he doesn't make that much in a single game alone.
But the reality of it is... wouldn't you think anything over 100K for a fine is absolutely ridiculous, especially for words (however much those words are awful).
They didn't just do the slap-on-the-wrist $10,000 fine or so that [I believe] you see more often, right?
You're right, probably not significant to Kobe, but I mean it's a significant FIGURE of money. Is the 100K deducted from pay during his next games or does Kobe have to pay it up front? Not that he doesn't make that much in a single game alone.
But the reality of it is... wouldn't you think anything over 100K for a fine is absolutely ridiculous, especially for words (however much those words are awful).
LMP
Blue Crack Supplier
When you're a figure as prominent as Kobe Bryant and you're caught by the media calling an official a highly offensive slur, then yeah, 100k seems appropriate.
/Hubie Brown 2nd Person Speech
The league fining Phil Jackson 75k for making a statement about him thinking that there may be a lockout is ludicrous, however.
/Hubie Brown 2nd Person Speech
The league fining Phil Jackson 75k for making a statement about him thinking that there may be a lockout is ludicrous, however.
cobl04
45:33
i don't know how to printscreen and make a jpeg, but at the moment if you type in "what di" in google, the first suggestion is "what did kobe say" 
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
i don't know how to printscreen and make a jpeg, but at the moment if you type in "what di" in google, the first suggestion is "what did kobe say"
For future reference: Just click your print screen button on the top right of your keyboard, and go to paint and paste (ctrl + v) and crop it. If you specifically want a .jpeg just Save As and change the file type to .jpeg. Paint should be standard for .bmp.
And that is quite funny lol.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I listened to a long talk radio program about this today on NPR. A lot of insightful callers as well as the host hashed this out pretty well.
What Peef's roommate said last is essentially how I feel, aside from the amount of the fine. There's a difference between a player making a clearly personal remark about a ref and just lashing out with some random comment (Roberto Alomar talking about that umpire's sick kid, for example). If a white player called some black referee a ****** a larger outrage would be totally valid and understandable.
As for what Kobe did...you know, people grow up saying this kind of stuff on the playground because it's an attack on masculinity and used to demean an opponent. There's only a matter of degrees between "bitch", "pussy", and "fag". Not just athletes. I can't imagine how many times I must have said or heard faggot or fag when I was a kid. As an adult, you know better to avoid certain loaded phrases, but when you're really pissed off you can instinctively revert to something stronger and off-color Does anyone seriously think Kobe is a homophobe or insensitive to the gay community because of this? Come on.
I think the fine is appropriate, however, because I think using any kind of strong language against an official should be dealt with seriously. And that'ds what people should be talking about, that the guy who is a superstar and highly paid thinks he can just talk to a ref like that. But in terms of classifying this as some kind of hate crime, no fucking way.
cobl04
45:33
I was surprised by the amount, it seems excessive, that was my first reaction... but he does earn that much in five minutes and it's important to make a statement/set a precedent I spose.
But in the heat of the moment, I definitely agree that it's really no different to saying bitch, pussy, idiot, whatever.
But in the heat of the moment, I definitely agree that it's really no different to saying bitch, pussy, idiot, whatever.
That's what people don't get. You can absolutely call someone a fag without being a homophobe. And on top of that, after that photo of him in the pilgrim hat and shawl from last year, you just know Kobe's got nothing against the gays.
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
No I don't think Kobe is a homophobe. Which is why he came out and addressed that. Everything went perfectly according to how it should have in regards to his punishment.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
The irony is that Kobe and other players earlier in the day were taping some NBA public service announcement called "Think Before You Speak" about using insensitive name-calling.
LOL.
LOL.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
I guess it's just me, but I have intentionally avoided ever throwing around "faggot." It's just not the same as calling someone a pussy or a bitch.
But no matter what your feelings are on this issue, fuck Kobe.
But no matter what your feelings are on this issue, fuck Kobe.
cobl04
45:33
Stephanie Rice, one of our elite swimmers, got in trouble last year because after we beat the Saffas in the rugby, she posted on twitter, "Go Wallabies! Suck on that faggots!!" And she got belted from pillar to post, lost sponsorship, she even appeared on TV crying saying she didn't mean it the way it was intended, and she quite obviously didn't. She could have picked a much better word, sure, but that was over the top.
Incidentally, there was an article in our paper a few days ago regarding media access in American sports. One of our top journos (he's a douche, but that's besides the point) goes to America during our off-season every year to report on NBA, Superbowl, etc, and he said if you've got an accredited media pass you can walk into changerooms before and after games and speak to whoever the hell you want. Players are forced to be available for media, he said. That's depressing because over here, a club in the AFL might make one player available for comment a month, and there's a list of 15 topics you can't talk about. Over here, negative stories fester and ruin clubs and players because journos aren't allowed to go in, ask what's going on and get it over and done with, so updates appear in the paper every day. If I do become a sports writer, that's going to be incredibly annoying.
Incidentally, there was an article in our paper a few days ago regarding media access in American sports. One of our top journos (he's a douche, but that's besides the point) goes to America during our off-season every year to report on NBA, Superbowl, etc, and he said if you've got an accredited media pass you can walk into changerooms before and after games and speak to whoever the hell you want. Players are forced to be available for media, he said. That's depressing because over here, a club in the AFL might make one player available for comment a month, and there's a list of 15 topics you can't talk about. Over here, negative stories fester and ruin clubs and players because journos aren't allowed to go in, ask what's going on and get it over and done with, so updates appear in the paper every day. If I do become a sports writer, that's going to be incredibly annoying.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
I didn't say it was the same thing, but it's along the same lines. The purpose of using it against someone who isn't (as far as you know) a homosexual is the same.
And the key word you used was "intentionally". When emotions are running high, sometimes unintentional things come out of your mouth.
But I understand there's no gray area for you when it comes to Kobe.
PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
No, like I have made it a habit never to throw around faggot. I've never said it to anyone. When I get heated, I unintentionally throw words around, but faggot is not one of them.
I'm not judging Kobe for this particular incident, because as you say, there are people who throw it around based on habits from their youth when they didn't know better.
I'm just saying that I, a person who uses liberal amounts of profanity, do not use that word ever.
I'm not judging Kobe for this particular incident, because as you say, there are people who throw it around based on habits from their youth when they didn't know better.
I'm just saying that I, a person who uses liberal amounts of profanity, do not use that word ever.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
I would say that those terms are all very similar in the sense that they reflect entrenched, almost subconscious animosity toward certain demographics. You can call someone a "pussy" without being an overt misogynist, but the essential meaning of the term is still rooted in an underlying culture of female subordination. The same goes for derogatory terms for homosexuals.
iron yuppie
ONE love, blood, life
Another issue at play here is that Kobe's use of a homophobic term is being treated as some kind of anomaly, but sports culture is still a hyper-masculine, largely homophobic enterprise. To present Kobe as some kind of exception to a culture of tolerance, as some media are, is ridiculous.
GirlsAloudFan
Blue Crack Addict
This discussion is pretty gay.
bono_man2002
Blue Crack Addict
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
Specifically 'faggot' separate from 'fag' for myself. I'd personally like to stop saying 'fag' myself, but I refuse to say 'faggot'. It's almost like I'd have to try to say it, it's a disgusting word.
cobl04
45:33
the worst is when people say faggot, then say, "what? i was calling him a pile of sticks"
LuckyNumber7
Blue Crack Addict
that's because they sound like a child.
lazarus
Blue Crack Supplier
And what I'm saying is that Kobe probably makes it a habit as well. You think he sits around watching television or drives around town calling people faggots, even to himself?
People that are fairly intelligent and have been all over the world eventually see enough stuff to get past whatever stereotypes they may have been raised with. And while you personally may be able to control your temper and your words, in this situation, Kobe wasn't. Forgive me for assuming that the level of intensity the most competitive guy in the league is playing with is a bit higher than what you or I are putting out when we're doing something.
People used to regularly toss the word ****** around like it was no big deal either.
Faggot is a word that is full of hate. Kobe, or anyone else, should be suspended for using it. That so many people don't see an issue with the use of the word is sad. I fully understand that highly competitive people can say some terrible things that they don't necessarily mean. That's no excuse for this one.
I get that people toss it around like its no big deal, and that people don't think that saying the word makes them homophobic. And I agree that in many cases it doesn't. It makes then uninformed.
Just think about what was just said... you're using a word that is a derogatory term for homosexuals in order to call someone a pussy... nothing against gays though.
Come on...
Eventually society will figure it out.
Faggot is a word that is full of hate. Kobe, or anyone else, should be suspended for using it. That so many people don't see an issue with the use of the word is sad. I fully understand that highly competitive people can say some terrible things that they don't necessarily mean. That's no excuse for this one.
I get that people toss it around like its no big deal, and that people don't think that saying the word makes them homophobic. And I agree that in many cases it doesn't. It makes then uninformed.
Just think about what was just said... you're using a word that is a derogatory term for homosexuals in order to call someone a pussy... nothing against gays though.
Come on...
Eventually society will figure it out.
OP
OP
Hewson
Blue Crack Supplier
No, I think it was used in the manner you mentioned, I assume it was used similar (but angrier) to this:
YouTube - Spicoli Stu & waves
But I heard someone joke about the situation thus:
"I guess Kobe just doen't like cosensual anal sex."
I Lol'd.
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