Oh good. Kobe made a PSA about accepting and respecting gay people.

Some other Lakers chimed in, and chipped in their couple of cents about embracing diversity.

I fail to understand why anybody would think that making a video like this would come off as even remotely sincere or meaningful. Maybe it's just me... But probably not. In cases like this, you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't. 

Kobe Bryant fined $100,000 for homophobic slur.

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, got upset about a call during April 12th's Lakers-Spurs game and was shown on camera on the bench saying "f*cking f*ggot." 

GLAAD had this to say:
"Hopefully Mr. Bryant will recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such language not only offends millions of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people around the world, but also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us, most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate."

David Stern had this to say in response to the incident: 

"Kobe Bryant's comment during last night’s game was offensive and inexcusable," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement "While I'm fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society."

GLAAD can be upset all they want. Kobe was wrong- he said something derogatory and hateful. But you know what, David Stern? I think you're full of crap on this one (what a surprise). NBA players are regularly candidly caught on camera using profanity. It happens dozens of times over the course of every game, because like David Stern pointed out in his statement, it's an emotional game. There's no doubt about it: 

Kobe was wrong- but he didn't know he was on camera at the time. I couldn't find a video of it to embed here, but it's widely available on the internet. If you watch it, Marv Albert even says the camera should be taken off of him because he was upset and swearing. It would be one thing if Kobe was being interviewed post game and made the conscious decision to use the phrase on live TV. But he didn't. He said it in a moment of anger that was unfortunately caught on camera and broadcast to millions. Whoever was working the camera at that instant knew that they would be catching Kobe swearing and they made a conscience decision to pan the camera on to him- probably because they wanted to get a cheap shot of Kobe throwing a temper tantrum. 

 I don't see players being hung out to dry when they use the "N-Word" or "b*tch," and both of those are hurtful, emotionally charged words, similar to "f*ggot." In an ideal world, the NBA would take a zero tolerance stance on the use of profanity and hate speech, but that's impossible. What the NBA can do is try to minimize the extent to which the use of profanity is broadcast to its viewers at home, and they could do this by encouraging cameramen to avoid purposefully catching players swearing on camera for cheap entertainment value. 

Random odds and ends: Rondo on the Pre-Game meal with Shannon Allen, the Celtics get booed in LA.

Rondo and Shannon cooked up crispy unfried chicken, cornbread, green beans, AND some sweet tea... my favorite beverage eevveerrr. You can find the recipe for it all right here, should you be interested in making any of it at home.

Also, I watched a little bit of the All-Star game last night... As I'm sure everyone knows, Kobe won MVP. I can't stand the Lakers, but I will be completely honest: I don't hate Kobe. Besides that I'm a Celtics fan by the books: I can't stand Lebron, Chris Bosh is overrated, I'll never forgive Amare Stoudemire for bashing Paul Pierce's front teeth in all those years ago in Phoenix, I hate the Heat, etc. But for some reason, I just don't have that Kobe hate in me. Say what you will about his life off the court, but on the floor it's undeniable that the guy is one of the best of all time AND is a proven winner. So anyway, he was on a mission last night to win the MVP- because he had to best Lebron James, he hears everyone doubting the Lakers and he wanted to show everyone he's not old and done. I guess he successfully accomplished that mission. I'd rather Kobe win in this type of situation than Lebron any day. Maybe that's just me.

The 4 Celtics didn't play too much. That's cool with me. They all checked in together, and which was nice to see... And nobody got hurt! That was the best part. They also got booed a lot. Hilarious!

Poor Paul! Gets the loudest boos in his hometown. Sike! You know he loves it. 

Is Kobe Bryant the new Gilbert Arenas?

Remember when Gilbert Arenas got served child support papers at half time? Click here if you don't. Well, the blogs are all abuzz that Kobe Bryant has walked down a similar path. Kobe is infamous for his philandering ways... And is also famous for the 4 million dollar ring he got for his wife as a consolation prize for his cheating  as an apology. He is now making headlines for apparent off the court behavior yet again. This video has surfaced on the internet:

And now, Terez Owens reports that people are speculating that the mysterious package he was handed in this video were child support papers:


Here’s what we’re being told, “Right around the time Tiger Woods was involved in his whole affair mess , a girl Kobe was mixed up with earlier in the year gave birth to his ‘alleged’ child…Kobe paid for her to live in Italy for the last year..She’s returned to the states and is now seeking legal rights.” This sounds plausible, Kobe has cheated on his wife Vanessa in the past…Haven’t these guys learned to keep their hands by their sides when exiting the court.

Oh jeez. I don't know how reliable the source is. It could be true, but it could just as easily be completely false... And "haven't these guys learned to keep their hands by their sides when exiting the court?" Who says that? Not for nothing, but you can be served anywhere, and it's just a weird thing to say. It's not like people are continually standing their trying to put things in to their hands. Most of the time its just screaming fans trying to get a high five. 

It's panic time in LA!

And not just because things aren't going well on the court for the Lakers, as some of my favorite bloggers at Reds Army so eloquently explained here and here. Trouble is now brewing off the court in Laker land as well.

Here's what I gather the scoop is, from my blog browsing: Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Kardashian Odom have scored their own reality show, as I previously talked about here. Apparently this news has not set well with Mrs. Vanessa Bryant (Kobe's wife):

Vanessa has wasted no time throwing around her weight to make life that much harder for Khloe. She's completely banned Kobe from making any cameo appearances on the show and has already managed to get E! cameras completely banned from the Lakers' locker room.

According to an insider:
"Vanessa and Khloe have been longtime rivals. Vanessa has been pitching her own reality series, with no success yet, and she hates that rival Khloe is impinging on what she considers to be her territory." (source)

Maybe that's why Kobe decided to take things in to his own hands on Sunday. He didn't want Lamar getting any of the glory... Teeheehe... But Probably not.