New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire sits courtside with his fiancee Alexis Welch watch the Miami Heat host the Boston Celtics in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs on June 5, 2012 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
(June 4, 2012 – Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America)
NEW YORK (AP) — Amare Stoudemire has been fined $50,000 by the NBA after the New York Knicks star tweeted a gay slur.
Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the fine Tuesday in a release, calling Stoudemire’s language offensive and derogatory.
Stoudemire apologized Sunday to a fan for using the slur in response to a crude tweet in which the fan admonished the All-Star to “make up for this past season.”
The fan, @BFerrelli, tweeted his comment on Saturday and received a direct message containing an expletive and the slur from the account Twitter verifies as Stoudemire’s. BFerrelli, identified by the New York Daily News as Brian Ferrelli, posted a screen shot of the direct message. Direct messages can only be seen by the sender and the recipient.
