The TV cameras caught Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls appearing to say, "F**k you, f**got" to a Miami Heat fan during Sunday night's Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, and Noah -- surely mindful that Kobe Bryant received a $100,000 fine for using the same slur -- quickly apologized after the game.
"I apologize," Noah said after the game. "The fan said something to me that I thought was disrespectful, and I got caught up in the moment, and I responded. I said some things that I shouldn’t have said. I was frustrated and I didn’t mean any disrespect to anybody."
It's hard to comprehend why Noah would use the words, "F**k you, f**got," if he didn't mean any disrespect, but whether Noah meant any disrespect is irrelevant: Noah said what he said, and the NBA has already established a precedent with the Bryant fine that the cost of saying what he said is $100,000. Presumably, Noah will get the same fine.
Here's video of the incident: