Cam Thomas fined for anti-gay remark

[KyRo23]

No homo is a lot less annoying than "pause" imo

Do people actually say "Pause"? Any links to someone saying it? I've never heard this in my life... Am I just old?

It has actually been said a lot by nba players in press conferences after they say something that may sounds a bit homosexual. I think Harden might have been involved in one of those. For example “went inside the paint banging with the big men…. Pause”

Edit - here you go

Watch on YouTube

[Hsker4Life]

I saw this and immediately thought this soft ass society is gonna try cancelling the dude.

Please for the love of God... go focus on more pressing issues.

/end thread

[baldur]

We can barely openly say these days that we are straight males. For some reason, we can't be straight or we will be offending some radical minority.

[Fairview4Life]

We can barely openly say these days that we are straight males. For some reason, we can't be straight or we will be offending some radical minority.

Yes, let’s not forget the real victim. Me.

[baldur]

We can barely openly say these days that we are straight males. For some reason, we can't be straight or we will be offending some radical minority.

Yes, let’s not forget the real victim. Me.

Already offended because I'm not a non binary?

[Fairview4Life]

We can barely openly say these days that we are straight males. For some reason, we can't be straight or we will be offending some radical minority.

Yes, let’s not forget the real victim. Me.

Already offended because I'm not a non binary?

Me. I am the victim. Everyone look at meeeeeee.

[Jazz9]

Come on now...
People use it for the most stupid things, even when there's zero "romantic" context to the conversation (which is the case most of the time)
Now why would anyone go out of their way to specify that when it's not even relevant to the conversation?
Let's be honest these people say it because they don't want anyone to think even for a second they could be gay.
They don't want in any way shape or form to be associated with the word "gay".
"Someone somewhere in the world could think I'm gay and I can't live with that"

[Pachinko_]

intent doesn't matter at all. the nba doesn't want its players making these sort of remarks because it could be harmful to their brand image. 40k fine will remind cam thomas of that.

What? No, intent and context definitely matters.
Otherwise any time you say the word "woman", "Asian" or "homosexual" you are immediately "misogynist", "racist" and "anti gay" regardless of WTF you are actually saying. You can't call someone misogynist because he called a woman a woman, you have to prove he did it with a malicious intend to demean, and the burden of the proof falls on the person making the accusation. It is actually insulting to call someone "misogynist", "racist", "anti gay" etc, you can't just throw those things around at people.

the nba did not use the phrase 'anti-gay'. the nba is not making a value judgment on cam thomas as a person, his thoughts, or his beliefs. it sounds like you have a personal problem that has nothing to do with this situation.

the nba described cam thomas' remark as "deragatory and disparaging language". that is what he is being fined for. not anything about him as a person. you can disagree on whether 'no homo' fits that description, but your opinion doesn't matter. nba players are subject to behavioral guidelines which protect the nba's brand image, and the nba is free to impose discipline on players who violate those guidelines.

any further, silly culture war accoutrements you assign to the nba's decision are meaningless. reporters called it 'anti-gay'. meh, that is the reporter's opinion. has nothing to do with the nba.

Oh yeah, I absolutely do have a personal problem, I am annoyed by nonsensical language barriers. What happens in those super visible environments like the NBA tends to eventually extend to my workplace, my kids school, and other places that have the ability to fkn annoy me.

I know that my opinion doesn't matter in the sense that NBA will not change its ruling because of me, but this here is a designated place for people to type their opinions, therefore mine is exactly where it belongs and perfectly serves its purpose, which is to discuss and criticise.

[Phystic]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35631269/cam-thomas-fined-40k-anti-gay-remark-interview

Where is the outrage from nets owner , a suspension , and the public humiliation? Just goes to show the kyrie thing was personal and he is held to a different standards.

You think saying "no homo" is equivalent to what Kyrie posted? "No homo" isnt even antigay

[KyRo23]

Come on now...
People use it for the most stupid things, even when there's zero "romantic" context to the conversation (which is the case most of the time)
Now why would anyone go out of their way to specify that when it's not even relevant to the conversation?
Let's be honest these people say it because they don't want anyone to think even for a second they could be gay.
They don't want in any way shape or form to be associated with the word "gay".
"Someone somewhere in the world could think I'm gay and I can't live with that"

I don't think this is true. He seemed to mean it in a more playful way. If he was really worried about people thinking he was gay, he would have just not said the first half of his statement about having good looking players. Someone who is worried about people's perceptions will probably just bypass that first part entirely.

The people who say it like Cam did are not the problem. It's the people who have real hate. I watched a street interview where someone asked a man who the best looking Yankees player is and he got insanely upset with the question. He started yelling at the interviewer and saying he did not like men and why would he ever assume that. Those are the people you need to watch out for. Not what happened last night

[slick_watts]

Oh yeah, I absolutely do have a personal problem, I am annoyed by nonsensical language barriers. What happens in those super visible environments like the NBA tends to eventually extend to my workplace, my kids school, and other places that have the ability to fkn annoy me.

I know that my opinion doesn't matter in the sense that NBA will not change its ruling because of me, but this here is a designated place for people to type their opinions, therefore mine is exactly where it belongs and perfectly serves its purpose, which is to discuss and criticise.

the nba could change its ruling because of you. convince enough people who consume the nba's content that this language is acceptable, and the nba won't care anymore. instead of complaining about it, do something about it. social activists have spent many years convincing people that "nonsensical language barriers" are important. if they were not, with enough effort it would become self-evident over time.

my guess is that, fortunately, time isn't going backwards.

[Nate505]

I don't care, but when you're part of a massive corporate environment you do sorta have to watch this stuff, regardless if you think it's absurd or not.

[Nate505]

Well if you want outrage the reporter who interviewed actually snitched on him with his comment

What a jagoff.

[Nuntius]

Does intent matter? Lot of kids, and some young adults use 'gay' as a kind of insult toward things they don't like (i.e 'thats gay') without intending it to be a homophonic insult on gay people. Most of these people are probably not anti-gay, and certainly saying that alone doesn't indicate that they are. I wouldnt call those people homophobic and wouldnt make them apologize if they werent intending to insult someone gay specifically.

They're kids and ignorant about it, I used the f and g words all the time when I was a kid, I know better now as an adult. Just because there's no intend behind the words, doesnt make the word less offensive to other people.

The problem is that if we define acceptable language by what's inoffensive to everyone else we're going to be left with very few words left.

Nah. It's quite easy to not insult people.

[Nuntius]

Didnt Roy Hibbert get suspended for using "pause"

No, Roy used the exact same phrasing and he similarly got fined for it.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

what he said was dumb and sophomoric and obviously something you don't say on national tv while you're also on the clock at your job.

but imagine comparing that to "the jews are responsible for slavery and the jews living in israel are not even real jews." kyrie's anti-semitism didn't start with that tweet about the movie, he's been leaning into it for a long time and is a demonstrable pattern of hate. cam thomas said something pretty much any 21-year-old would say.

the fact that you would compare them goes beyond typical pharmcat trolling and is just **** stupid and offensive. this whole thread is just ragebait and should've been locked on the first page.

[azcatz11]

Well if you want outrage the reporter who interviewed actually snitched on him with his comment

What a jagoff.

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=JER-SportsJournalist

This guy is a moron. Interviewing players and basically **** stirring a story. I hope every player boycotts this douche going forward. I think he's the fill in TNT guy - he needs to be fired

[Nuntius]

We can barely openly say these days that we are straight males. For some reason, we can't be straight or we will be offending some radical minority.

What world are you living in?

[Clemenza]

No homo is a lot less annoying than "pause" imo

Do people actually say "Pause"? Any links to someone saying it? I've never heard this in my life... Am I just old?

Even though "no homo" is a common phase you can't use it on television. You have to use the substitute which is "Pause". Here was the best use of it on national tv

Watch on YouTube

;t=51s

[BrianInPhilly]

If a player says “I like women” - should they be fined? How exactly is that different than saying “no homo”?

The former doesn't contain a slur. The latter does. It's as simple as that and pretending that the two are the same seems disingenuous to me.

Calling "no homo" a slur is an OPINION. You cannot use someone's perception of language as FACT and then use that to fine someone. Again, language is objective. "No" by definition means not something. Homo refers to liking someone of the same gender. THESE ARE FACTS. Therefore, "no homo" in the context of what Cam Thomas used he meant he is not gay. Which is literally the same thing as saying he likes women! So again, YES THE TWO ARE THE SAME. Literally the same. Anyone who doesn't think that is using mental gymnastics or using "hidden meanings" to something which is not there when even in the context of what Thomas said, he obviously was not using some hidden meaning slur to it. He said it right after he said his male teammates were good looking. So both in the literal word term, AND the context of what he was saying he essentially said he "likes women".

But continue playing your linguistic games if you choose to. That doesn't change reality.