On Monday, NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed that he was gay. While Kennedy’s coming out is itself a great story for a league that has been at the forefront of acceptance within the major sports, it was overshadowed by a troubling story. As part of the article announcing Kennedy’s coming out, it was revealed that the confrontation between Kennedy and Sacramento Kings’ point guard Rajon Rondo, for which Rondo was eventually suspended one game, involved Rondo’s use of a homophobic slur.
That same day, after refusing to speak to a large contingent of reporters at the Kings’ practice, Rondo sent out two tweets to attempt to fix the problem:
My actions during the game were out of frustration and emotion, period!
— Rajon Rondo (@RajonRondo) December 14, 2015
They absolutely do not reflect my feelings toward the LGBT community. I did not mean to offend or disrespect anyone.
— Rajon Rondo (@RajonRondo) December 14, 2015
Rondo’s tweets may seem apologetic to some, but they really do have an air of forcefulness to them. Rondo never mentions Kennedy and never uses any apologetic vocabulary. Furthermore, Rondo’s last sentence seems like total PR-speak saying he did not mean to “disrespect anyone” after he continuously yelled at and berated Kennedy does not strike me as completely honest.
Rondo doubled down on his apology, perhaps due to some criticism, on Tuesday, issuing the following statement:
Yesterday, I said that my words toward Bill Kennedy were unacceptable and did not reflect my feelings toward the LGBT community. Some have interpreted my comments as a non-apology. I want to be clear, from the bottom of my heart that I am truly sorry for what I said to Bill. There is no place on or off the court for language that disrespects anyone’s sexual orientation. That is not who I am or what I believe and I will strive every day to be a better person.
After the first set of “apologies” it is hard to think that this statement is not once again a PR move and perhaps even written by others. Nevertheless, it is at least a move in the correct direction. The statement has a sense of regret and mentions Kennedy by name. It would be preferable to have Rondo face reporters to talk about the incident and express his regret in person but this was an acceptable step to take.
Clearly, using derogatory language against someone due to their sexual orientation is unacceptable. The league has tried to extinguish all of these incidents and for the most part it has done a good job. However, every once in a while, a player repeats that same problem. Hopefully, Rondo truly learns from this and uses it to become a better person.
