Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls was caught on video Sunday night using what appears to be a familiar gay slur.
After getting called for a foul against LeBron James of the Miami Heat in the first quarter during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in the NBA playoffs, Noah starts yelling at a fan behind his team’s bench.
Noah appears to use the same homophobic slur that drew a $100,000 fine for Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers when he used it on a referee in April.
If you watch closely — at about 19 seconds into the video — you can make out the words “fuck you, faggot.” Watch:
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“I apologize,” Noah told reporters 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,” he said.
The incident comes just one week to the date that NBA executive Rick Welts, Chief Executive of the Phoenix Suns, came out as gay.
