(CNN) - the National Basketball Association fined Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers for $100,000 on Wednesday for "offensive and inexcusable" comments he made in the Tuesday night game, the League said in a news release.
Bryant used an expletive and a connotation homophobic directed to an arbitrator after receiving a technical fault in a game against the San Antonio Spurs.
In a call telephone pre-game Wednesday night at Joe Solomonese, Chairman of campaign for human rights, Bryant excuses for the use of the connotation, the commission said in a statement.
"We had a very sincere conversation in which he expresses his sincere regret for the pain that his words caused," said Solomonese. "He told me that it is never OK to degrade or tease, and he understands how his words could unfortunately give the false impression that it is an appropriate conduct." At the end of a difficult day, I applaud Kobe to present and taking responsibility for his actions. ?
Earlier, Bryant issued a statement saying that his remarks should not be taken literally. "My actions were out of frustration in the heat of the game period," he said. "The words expressed did not reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian community and were not designed to offend someone."
But the NBA Commissioner, David Stern, said in a release, "comment Kobe Bryant during game play of last night offensive and inexcusable." While I am fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, this unpleasant term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have Kobe $100,000 fine. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or company. ?
The human rights campaign said earlier that he supported the fine.
"We applaud Commissioner Stern and the NBA for not only paste Bryant but to recognize that insults and derogatory comments have no place in the field of basketball or in society", said Solomonese. "We hope such swift and decisive action will send a powerful and universal message that this kind of hate brightness is simply inexcusable any context."
Gay and Lesbian Alliance against defamation issued a statement supporting the decision.
"The NBA has sent a clear message to the fans of sports everywhere where homophobic insults have no place in the game," said Jarrett Barrios, President of the organization. "... This decision will constitute an important precedent that will ensure a safer, more inclusive environment for fans and players around the world, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with the NBA.
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