Former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire issued an apology Wednesday, a day after making what is deemed inappropriate comments about a hypothetical gay teammate. The 34-year-old previously said he would “shower across the street, make sure my change of clothes are around the corner” if he had a gay teammate.
“I want to apologize for my offensive comments against the LGBT community,” Amar’e Stoudemire said in a released statement. “These remarks were taken from a larger interview where a reporter was asking me hypothetical questions, and all my answers had a comedic undertone.” Stoudemire made the comments in an interview with Israeli website Walla Sport. Following the comments, the first year Israeli Premier League player was then asked if he was joking, to which he said “there’s always a truth within a joke.”
As noted by Bleacher Report, in 2012, Amar’e Stoudemire was fined $50,000 by the NBA for using a homophobic slur on Twitter. According to New York Daily News report, the tweet was directed at a New York Knicks fan who tweeted at Stoudemire, telling him that he needed to come back stronger to make up for the past season. In the tweet, Amar’e Stoudemire called the fan a fa----.
Amar’e Stoudemire’s 2012 fine was part of a league-wide crackdown on the use of “derogatory and offensive term.” Joakim Noah was similarly fined $50,000 for yelling the same term at a fan during a postseason game against the Miami Heat. Kobe Bryant was meted twice that amount for using the derogatory term against an NBA official.
Amar’e Stoudemire is currently playing for Hapoel Jerusalem, signing a two-year deal with a team where he is also a part-owner, a move which he called “a spiritual journey.” He purchased an ownership stake with the team in 2013. Amar’e Stoudemire played 14 seasons in NBA, majority of which were with the Phoenix Suns. He also had stints in New York with the Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.
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