San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich spoke about the recent controversy regarding Rajon Rondo and NBA referee Billy Kennedy who just admitted being gay.
It was previously reported that the 18-year NBA referee veteran officially announced that he is a homosexual after a highly publicized altercation with the Sacramento Kings point guard.
According to Yahoo! Sports, one of the league's top referees said "I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man."
He then added "I am following in the footsteps of others who have self-identified in the hopes that will send a message to young men and women in sports that you must allow no one to make you feel ashamed of who you are."
As per Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo!, Poppovich said that these gay slurs happen all the time during the game. "Why would I be surprised? You see it all the time," Popovich said. "It's unfortunate. It's disgusting. Bill is a great guy. He's been a class act, on and off the court.
He then added "As far as anybody's sexual orientation, it's nobody's business. It just shows ignorance. To act in a derogatory way toward anybody in the LBGT community doesn't make sense. But surprised? Of course not."
Rondo did apologize for his actions via Twitter. It was reported by sacbee.com that Rondo tweeted "My actions during the game were out of frustration and emotion, period!"
He then added "They absolutely do not reflect my feelings toward the LGBT community. I did not mean to offend or disrespect anyone."
Despite this, his response has been highly criticized as shared by sbnation.com. The article states "Here's the thing. This statement is pitifully weak, but it's also extremely specific in what it is trying to communicate."
"By claiming the slur was dropped out of "frustration and emotion" and by claiming the rant doesn't reflect Rondo's feelings toward the LGBT community, Rondo is trying to signal clearly that he didn't know Kennedy was gay," the report continued.
