Phil and GLAAD
Phil Jackson apologized tonight for the comments he made last night following the Lakers' loss to San Antonio.
Jackson said, ``We call this a 'Brokeback Mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts. It was one of those games.''
It should be noted that none of the four beat writers who travel with the Lakers included the quote in their stories. It was an off-the-cuff joke by Jackson, who often works, um, creative phrases into his discussions with the media, for better or worse. You might remember when Jackson, last week, said he decided to make Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher co-captains while ``sitting on the john.'' Phil, it seems, is big on creating mental images.
Anyway, the folks at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) didn't take kindly and issued a statement. President Neil G. Giuliano said, ``Phil Jackson's been coaching long enough that he should be able to talk about the Lakers' performance without resorting to cheap gay jokes.''
Before tonight's game against Houston, Jackson said, ``I wanted to thank all the journalists and the TV people who thought it was humorous last night in the moment for their support and laughing, but in retrospect it wasn’t really funny. When you take it out of context, it’s not funny. It’s a poor attempt at humor, and I deserved to be reprimanded by the NBA. And I said to them that if I’ve offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize.''
Never mind, it seems, that comedians spent months running ``Brokeback Mountain'' jokes into the ground. Jackson indicated that there's a time and place for certain jokes when he added, ``It's societal right now. Some people can do it. Some people can't. That's something that's appropriate for certain categories.''