Amar’e Stoudemire is playing overseas, because he’s not really any good anymore.
In the middle of putting up lackluster numbers in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, Stoudemire found time to answer a very easy question in the worst possible way:
Transcription via New York Daily News :
“I’m going to shower across the street, make sure my change of clothes are around the corner,” Stoudemire said, “and I’m going to drive (and) take a different route to the gym.”
Well, surely this was just a very poor joke, right? He gets offered that exact lifeline, which he promptly discards:
“There’s always a truth within a joke.”
Wow.
So, first of all, in 2017, how absolutely, stupidly, ragingly homophobic do you have to be to say something like that? I know the Presidential election went like it did, but as a public figure with endorsements and a legacy to protect, if you can’t muster up the common sense to at least cover up your own hatreds, there’s something really wrong with you.
And I know I’m advocating for something odd there, but here’s the thing: I honestly think it’s wrong to tell someone how to think! If you think racist or sexist or homophobic things, I can’t stop you. I know plenty of people who I’d consider to be good, kind, and compassionate who hold those views. (Thanks, rural Indiana.)
But it’s when you let that dictate your outward behavior towards others, in speech or action, that it becomes an issue. Those people I know wouldn’t tell someone else how they should live, and they’d still be kind, and friendly, and caring. That sounds like a disconnect, and it probably is one, but that’s where we’re at in terms of social progress. It’s a lot better than it used to be, but there’s still a long way to go.
Amar’e Stoudemire has played on basketball teams since he was a kid, and he’s almost certainly had at least one gay teammate already. Probably more than one. He might have one or more at this very moment. All he has to say when asked that question is some variant of “My teammate is my teammate, and I’d support him 100%.”
Done. Over. Moving on.
You’d think he’d have learned this exact lesson, since he was fined $50,000 back in 2012 for hurling a homophobic slur via Twitter DM at an online heckler.
It’s almost like there’s a pattern!
Stoudemire will probably apologize, but there’s no reason to believe him at this point. If there’s any justice, a teammate of his will come out and say they hope he does go ahead and shower somewhere else, because they don’t need his paltry ten points and five boards a night.
[NYDN]
