Video: Joakim Noah Caught On Camera Using Profanity, Slur Directed Towards Fan

MIAMI — Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls’ center, apologized Monday for directing an antigay slur at a fan in a loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. After speaking with N.B.A. representatives, he said, he expected to be fined for the outburst.

Noah made the comment when he returned to the bench after drawing his second foul in the first quarter. He said the fan taunted him, but did not specify what the fan said. The broadcast by TNT captured Noah’s response on camera.

“I don’t want to be a distraction for the team, and I apologize for what I said,” Noah said Monday. “What I said wasn’t right. I don’t want to disrespect anybody. That’s not what I’m about. I just got caught up in something a fan said and I went back at him, and I’m going to face the consequences as a man.” 
 
It was the N.B.A.’s second high-profile incident of a player using the derogatory slur in two months. The N.B.A. fined Kobe Bryant $100,000 in April for using the same slur toward the referee Bennie Adams just days before the start of the playoffs.

“We need to get to a point where you don’t use an antigay slur to respond to events,” Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “It’s just plain unacceptable. At a time when the N.B.A. and a growing number of pro athletes are publicly standing up for equality, it’s too bad Mr. Noah worked against their efforts last night. That said, we’re pleased he quickly realized the error of his ways and apologized.” 

The N.B.A. recently partnered with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network for an antibullying public service advertisement that features Grant Hill and Jared Dudley of the Phoenix Suns. In the advertisement, Hill and Dudley caution people to think before they speak. “Using ‘gay’ to mean dumb or stupid, not cool,” Hill said in the advertisement.

Coincidentally, the video was filmed the same day of Bryant’s slur, which was also caught by TNT cameras. Bryant eventually filmed his own public-service announcement with his Lakers teammates.
Noah said that it was an isolated incident and that he did not want to be a distraction as the Bulls face mounting odds against Miami, which took a two-games-to-one lead in their series Sunday.

“Sometimes fans say things that are a little bit overboard, but still, it’s on us not to react,” Noah said. “If you react, they win, and I did. It was a bad decision on my part, and I’m going to face some pretty severe consequences.”