Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah has
accepted a $50,000 fine for hurling an anti-gay slur at a fan, the
Chicago Sun-Times reported.
According to the paper, Noah called the
fine “fair.”
“I made a mistake,” he said. “I'll
learn from it and move on.”
During game 3 of the Eastern Conference
finals against the Miami Heat, the six-foot-eleven, 26-year-old Noah
was called for a personal foul against LeBron James in the opening
quarter. As TNT's cameras remained fixed on the benched player, he
appeared to shout “faggot” at a fan in Miami's American Airlines
Arena. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Noah apologized for his comments,
saying he was “frustrated” and “just got caught up.”
Noah's fine is half what Los Angeles
Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant was assessed for shouting the same
slur toward referee Bennie Adams last month. Bryant
has said he'll appeal the fine.
“Kobe's fine included discipline for
verbal abuse of a game official,” NBA spokesman Mark Broussard
explained.
“I didn't really know what my fine
would be,” Noah said. “I was just ready to face the consequences
and move on … I don't want to be a distraction to this team.”