Having been gone from the league and distant in memory for the better part of a year, former six time NBA All-Star Amare Stoudemire is back in the headlines this week, after making homophobic remarks on Israeli television.
Stoudemire, who has been playing overseas with the Hapoel Jerusalem squad, was recently interviewed along with teammates as a part of an exclusive conducted by Israeli news outlet Walla Sport. The segment focused on the willingness of players to accept competing alongside a gay teammate. When asked whether they'd have an issue sharing the floor with a person who identifies as homosexual, each of the Hapoel players pretty much responded favorably, with perhaps the most resistant response coming from one player who said as long as that person didn't push his sexuality on him, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem. One Hapoel hooper seemed to not be so accepting though, and that was Amare Stoudemire.
“I’m going to shower across the street, make sure my change of clothes are around the corner, and I’m going to drive (and) take a different route to the gym,” said Stoudemire. He was then asked whether he was only joking, to which Stoudemire replied, “There’s always a truth within a joke."
Stoudemire's statement was consistent with a pattern throughout his career. Back in 2012 the NBA fined him $50,000 for slinging a gay slur at a fan on Twitter. At the time he wasn't as willing to reassert his statement as he was this time, telling TMZ back then that he is a "huge supporter of civil rights for all people," and was "disappointed in myself for my statement to a fan."
Source: nydailynews.com
