Noah fined half as much as Bryant

Posted on by

Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls was fined $50,000 today for yelling an anti-gay slur at a fan during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday in Miami. It was the same two-word phrase used by the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant last month, when he was fined $100,000 for yelling it at referee Bennie Adams during a game against the San Antonio Spurs. Why the difference for the same ugly words? The NBA explained that Bryant’s slur was directed toward a referee and Noah’s was hurled at a fan. So, is the league saying that referees are worth twice as much as fans? I would say the opposite is true. Maybe the league should have said the salaries of the players (Bryant: $24 million; Noah: $3 million) were taken into account. That would probably be the wiser play from a public-relations standpoint. There’s no need to disrespect the fans, the people who pay everyone’s salaries.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email
  • Kris

    It didn’t really seem that Kobe “yelled” anything at the ref. He was on the bench and seemed to utter the word under his breath, but was caught by the camera. As for Noah’s fine, it should’ve been as much or more to drive home the point that this language won’t be tolerated. It was shocking that it was half as much, considering it happened a month later.