(Photo: Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
NBA players have to deal with a lot of criticism from jeering fans. Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. spoke about an unusual insult that is often thrown at him in opposing arenas. From Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic:
“People call me a lesbian a lot. They think I look like a female girl or a teenage girl or something. I understand I’m a pretty dude. They might be mad that their wife likes me or something,” he said.
“I’m not a lesbian. I’m a grown man. I’ve heard that multiple times. I guess it’s something to try to get under my skin, but at the end of the day I know who I am. The whole Boston crowd screaming ‘F U Oubre,’ that was pretty creative of everybody in their arena. But I loved it, it was just part of the game.”
Wait, what? It’s always funny when fans get creative with their insults, but you have to feel sort of bad for the players.
It sounds like Oubre Jr. isn’t taking this too seriously, though. A sense of humor will get a player a long way in dealing with things like this.
Oubre Jr. also noted that Boston is the worst NBA stadium for him in terms of heckling, which can likely be attributed to the rivalry between the Celtics and Wizards, plus Oubre Jr.’s incident with Kelly Olynyk.
