NBA Has No Choice but to Fight Homophobia
Roy Hibbert seems like a relatable, regular dude.
Well, aside from the fact that he's 7'2, weighs 275 pounds, made upwards of $13 million this year while playing center for the Indiana Pacers and has been known to pop up in NBC's Parks and Recreation and with flash mobs at local malls.
Still, the guy clearly has a sense of humor and has proven that he isn't afraid to "keep it real." But, as folks of Hibbert's (and my) generation learned long ago from the font of wisdom that is Dave Chappelle, there are times when keepin' it real goes wrong.
Take Hibbert's press conference following the Pacers' 91-77 win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals. Hibbert's use of a certain maternal slur, while wholly inappropriate and unnecessary for the occasion, probably helped him to expand his burgeoning following to a certain extent.
It punctuated a pertinent point of Hibbert's: that he finished 10th in Defensive Player of the Year voting not because of anything he did wrong, but because many of the people who voted for the award (i.e. members of the media) didn't follow the Pacers and/or Hibbert closely this past season.
But the more troubling of Hibbert's slurs—particularly from the NBA's perspective, and the one that likely incurred a significant portion of the league's $75,000 fine—came just moments prior to that. While describing his help defense on LeBron James behind Paul George, Hibbert let slip a "no homo," an all-too-ubiquitous slang term used to distance oneself from appearing gay.
Hibbert apologized for his remarks prior to getting slapped with the aforementioned fine (via ESPN.com):
"I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night. They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers' organization.
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He also went so far as to reach out to fellow NBA big man Jason Collins, who recently became the first active athlete in a major North American professional sport to come out of the closet.
As sincere as Hibbert's apology may be, there's a reason David Stern's penalty was as, well, stern as it was. Hibbert's use of "no homo" is just the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of homophobic incidences (both subtle and overt) to which the NBA is now inextricably tied.
Homophobia is nothing new for the NBA or for any professional sport for that matter. For all we know, players have been slinging gay slurs at one another for decades.
Nowadays, though, technology has rendered it nearly impossible to do so without significant repercussions. Players are tracked by dozens of cameras every night. Some are even mic'd up during games.
At home, fans can easily disseminate and discuss controversial moments like Hibbert's through social media. They can upload the clip in question to YouTube and point the rest of the Internet toward it using Facebook, Twitter and the like in a matter of minutes.
In a world that, in many ways, is more accepting and understanding of the LGBTQ community than ever before, comments like Hibberts are bound to invite plenty of backlash from all corners of the public sphere.
The NBA is acutely aware of this because it's dealt with the ramifications of its athletes' homophobic transgressions on more occasions that it would probably prefer to admit. In April of 2011, Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for hurling a slur at an official during a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs:
The very next month, Joakim Noah was docked $50,000 for lobbing the same two "F" words at a fan during an Eastern Conference Finals tilt involving his Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.
Those were two of the more obvious, egregious and visible instances of homophobia to which the Association has been tied in recent years. The latter occurred during a nationally televised playoff game against the biggest draw in basketball (the Heat).
The former involved one of the league's foremost stars, and subsequently sparked a series of face-saving public service announcements from the NBA's marquee franchise, the league and the National Basketball Players Association.
Unfortunately, too many of the sport's biggest stars still fail to heed that advice—to think before they speak—when faced with a medium of expression, be it a microphone on a podium or 140 characters on the Internet.
But too often have infractions slipped through the cracks in the past. In February of 2010, LeBron dropped a "no homo" at the All-Star Game in Dallas, but saw no discipline for his actions (h/t Robert Littal of Black Sports Online).
Likewise, Andrew Bynum avoided sanction after using the same slur during a post-game interview in April of 2012, when he was still with the Lakers (h/t Robert Littal).
This might suggest that the biggest stars on the most popular teams can get away with more covert slurs that would land most of their peers in hot water.
But perhaps this isn't another cause for conspiracy theorists to cry foul. Perhaps, instead, this is simply a matter of the NBA wising up, at long last, to the prevailing parlance to which its players are most privy.
Perhaps the NBA's impetus for action now is about much more than just propriety or more tolerant times in our society, or even the impulse of a moral imperative. As Ken Berger of CBSSports.com and ESPN's Jemele Hill recently discussed on Twitter, the league is a multibillion-dollar business whose size and scope only continues to grow.
The latest collective bargaining agreement has rendered the NBA and its constituent franchises more valuable than ever. So, too, has the expansion of the league's imprint across all media platforms, including television and social media.
More eyes mean more money—and higher stakes—for the NBA. The blowback from every altercation, every verbal miscue, is far greater now than it was even just a few years ago, and will only be further magnified going forward.
Hence, it's more important than ever for the league to properly educate all those with whom it associates (i.e. players, coaches, executives, etc.) on the importance of not only minding their remarks, but also understanding why it's important to do so. Continuing education will help chip away at the root causes of misjudgments such as those covered herein and the countless others not.
To its credit, the NBA has been a pioneer among pro sports leagues in its partnership with the LGBTQ community. The league is closely affiliated with Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness of homophobia in sports and foster an atmosphere of acceptance and understanding for people of all sexual orientations within that world. Athlete Ally released a statement of its own regarding Hibbert's folly (via ESPN.com):
"We are disappointed by Hibbert's comments, as that kind of language is disrespectful, has no place in sports and is antithetical to the NBA's policies. As an official partner of the NBA and NBPA, Athlete Ally works closely with the league on delivering trainings and workshops to educate players about LGBT inclusion and respect. The league is undoubtedly a leader in this area, and Roy's statement of apology clearly recognizes the harms of his comments.
We are confident that NBA will do its part to rectify the issue to the extent it can, comprehensively educate Hibbert, who seems genuinely apologetic, and make sure that these kinds of comments are soon a thing of the past.
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Indeed, Hibbert did reasonably well to apologize for his remarks in a timely manner, as has the NBA to penalize him and continue its own campaign against homophobia. Like so many of his peers and forebears, Hibbert hails from a time, a community and a world that even today has a spotty track record with the LGBTQ community, to say the least.
Hibbert's image is hardly beyond saving, just as that of the NBA has recovered from many a stain over the years. Hibbert can still be a relatable, regular guy who seems to enjoy his meager fame off the court while dominating the competition on it.
What's important now is that he and his cohorts within the league do what so many relatable, regular people have done before him: learn from their mistakes.
The NBA should also do everything in its power to reinforce those lessons, so that players think before they speak, avoid regrettable blunders—and the punishments that accompany them—altogether, and (hopefully) reach a point in time at which homophobia is stamped out entirely from the sports that we love.
