Lakers' star and Lower Merion High School's most famous alum -- Kobe Bryant -- is apologizing for his homophobic slur during last night's game. And late Thursday afternoonk, the NBA fined Kobe $100,000.
"The words expressed do NOT reflect my feeling towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone," Kobe said in a statement released by the Lakers Wednesday.
During the game against the Spurs, Kobe appears to say "f***ing f***ot" after he gets pulled for a technical foul. He didn't address the slur at all during a post-game interview on the team's website.
But the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) called Kobe out on Twitter the next afternoon, demanding an apology.
The article on their website says:
"What a disgrace for Kobe Bryant to use such horribly offensive and distasteful language, especially when millions of people are watching. Hopefully Mr. Bryant will recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such language not only offends millions of LGBT people around the world, but also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us, most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate. Bryant and the Lakers have a responsibility to speak up on this issue immediately. America is watching."
The Lakers posted the apology on their website a couple of hours later.
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"What I said last night should not be taken literally," Kobe said in the statement. "My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period."
NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the $100,000 fine, saying the distasteful term use by Kobe should never be tolerated.
