Joakim Noah Fined $50K for Use of Anti-Gay Slur

Kobe was fined for twice the amount Noah will have to fork over because he verbally-abused a ref, which according to the NBA, is half as bad as verbally abusing a fan. Glad we got that cleared up. From the Daily Herald: “After Bulls center Joakim Noah spoke to the league office on Monday morning regarding his derogatory remarks to a fan, he said he expected a stiff penalty for his outburst. He got it a few hours later: $50,000. He was not suspended, however, and will play in Game 4 at Miami on Tuesday. In the first half of Sunday’s Game 3 loss at Miami, television cameras were on Noah as he returned to the Bulls bench and appeared to use a derogatory term when speaking to fan. ‘Spoke to them (NBA officials) earlier this morning,’ Noah said at the team hotel. ‘Like I said before, very disappointing. I got caught up. After picking up a second foul yesterday, I was frustrated. A fan said something that was disrespectful toward me and I went back at him. They got it on camera.’ Lakers star Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for allegedly using the same anti-gay last month in the regular season. Bryant’s comment was directed toward a referee.”