2:48 p.m. | Updated
Kobe Bryant, in response to reports that he used a gay slur toward referee Bennie Adams in Tuesday night’s game against the Spurs, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon that was released by the Lakers:
“What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone.”
2:12 p.m. | Updated The stumbling-toward-the-playoffs Lakers would be drawing attention today just on the news of center Andrew Bynum’s knee injury and the backup guard Steve Blake’s case of chicken pox, but Kobe Bryant might have nosed both out of the way by appearing to hurl a gay slur at the referee Bennie Adams during Tuesday night’s game against the Spurs.
Bryant was caught on TNT’s broadcast with an outburst after Adams called him for a technical foul. Bryant sat on the bench, threw a towel, yelled “Bennie!” and then what seemed to be a profanity followed by the slur.
The Lakers have not commented on the incident and N.B.A. spokesman Tim Frank said the matter is “under review.”
There is a video of the incident and TNT analyst Steve Kerr reacted to the outburst by suggesting the cameras cut away from Bryant for the sake of the audience’s sensibilities.
Adams, 44, has been an N.B.A. referee for 13 seasons. According to his official N.B.A. biography, he had officiated in 712 league games before this season and four playoff games. He is from New Orleans, has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in mathematics from Southern University and taught math there before becoming an N.B.A. referee.
The technical called by Adams was Bryant’s 15th of the season. The N.B.A. rescinded one on Monday, which would have put Bryant over the limit and landed him a one-game suspension.
Reaction to Tuesday night’s incident includes a thoughtful criticism of Bryant by John Krolik on ProBasketballTalk.com and a post on Outsports.com, a gay sports Web site recently profiled in The Times.
