Posted on 11/14/2007 8:07:28 PM PST by LdSentinal
LOS ANGELES Coach Phil Jackson said he deserved the reprimand he got from the NBA on Wednesday for making a sexual reference in a comment following the Los Angeles Lakers' loss in San Antonio.
The Spurs made 13 3-pointers in their 107-92 victory on Tuesday night, and Jackson was asked if too much penetration was leading to open outside shooters. “We call this a 'Brokeback Mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts,” Jackson said. “It was one of those games.”
The 2005 film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.
“But in retrospect, it wasn't really funny,” Jackson said before the Lakers played Houston on Wednesday night. “When you take it out of context, it wasn't funny. It was a poor attempt at humor and I deserved to be reprimanded by the NBA.”
Still, Jackson couldn't resist making another joke as he apologized. “If I've offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize,” Jackson said.
Jackson thanked beat writers and other journalists who covered Tuesday's game for dismissing the comment as an innocent joke. He said several of them laughed when he said it.
The NBA did not.
NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said: “The remarks are in poor taste, and the Lakers have assured us such remarks will not occur in the future.”
Jackson admitted he should've known better – that coaches can't get away with the jokes that Jay Leno and David Letterman do for a living on their late-night talk shows.
“It's societal right now,” he said. “Some people can do it. Some people can't. That's something that's appropriate for certain categories.”
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) president Neil G. Giuliano issued a statement saying: “Phil Jackson's been coaching long enough that he should be able to talk about the Lakers' performance without resorting to cheap gay jokes.”
All the more reason to not support the NBA.
God save us all from the humorless.
The NBA taking a wide stance on this issue..........
Yes it was.
Still, Jackson couldn't resist making another joke as he apologized. “If I've offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize,” Jackson said.
Proof that Jackson didn't mean his first statement.
Stopped watching the NBA when they hit the “50% of players with criminal convictions” mark. I think they’re up to over 50% felons now.
As a fan of the NBA Mavericks, I’m offended by the GLAAD organization’s name.
The word gay covers gay men, women and women who look like men who date women. My point is, drop the lesbian. Gay is gay.
Funny as hell.
If one WANTS to be offended, one will find a way to be offended.
I’m ready to Pass On for my Belief,,are you ready to die for yours..
It was kind of funny.
Where’s nygopgal? PHIL JACKSON...my old boyfriend folks! Dated him when I was in college...yes, he’s VERY TALL!!!! And very nice.
absolutely right. I myself haven’t payed any attention to the NBA since the great Jerry West retired in ‘74. what I see out there on the floor now (during an occasional TV surf moment) is not what I like to see in sports. obviously my views are in the minority as I understand the NBA is still a very profitable business so diff. strokes I guess. the players are incredible athletes, no question, but it is the other BS they pull that turns me off.
I weep for our country.
I think it was pretty funny.
America grows more Orwellian by the day.
It made me laugh and I don’t even like Phil Jackson!
LOL, that was funny. The hell with those politically correct humorless douchebags who have a problem with it.
NBA is so bad I doubt even the gays watch it. Nobody to really offend.
Yup, and Phil has offended the Industry of the Perpetually Offended. Now he has to pay.
He, who has spent so much time in the La La Land of the Perpetually Offended, should have known better.
Shame on Phil. Off to the work camp with him!
Screw ‘em.
“brokebacklash”
LOL
Good keywording!
Thank you.
And here I thought he was reprimanded for calling his players homosexual.
You did? Was Phil Jackson playing for the Knicks at that time?
Now that's funny
I’m glad he apologized to the horses.
If anybody saw Jackson on ESPN giving his ‘apology’, you could tell that he was even more condescending to the media and the GLAAD group for having to forced to even comment on this. There was no actual apology and he has the money to just pay the fines and not give up his dignity.
If Giuliano really wants to fight defamation, he needs to quit speaking in code. Call them what they are, i.e. homosexuals.
Oh wait a minute; that would give the whole thing away now wouldn't it?
I personally don’t find much humor in two men sodomizing each other either.
Wha...? It's funny now. Jeesh. The NBA has a Team Owner that produced a film that will create more terrorists to kill American soldiers and civilians AND they reprimand a 'Brokeback Mountain' joke? Political Correctness is a suicide pact and I'm not signing up.
how about save us from jokes that are just plain bad...
this coach was guilty of poor writing.
The headline should have been “Writer’s Strike Impacts NBA” of course it is all Bush’s fault...
In the future there will be no jokes which can offend anyone in any way whatsoever......at least this is the aim of the PC Police.
IOW, "Sorry you queers are so easily offended."
Getting really,really,really close.
I had read somewhere once that Phil Jackson is a devout socialist. This just makes it kind of funny to me to see a leftist (if it’s true) make a statement that they accuse the conservatives of making.
No, he was done with the Knicks. He was coaching The Albany team for the Continental basketball league. Right after that he went to Chicago. This was 1982 or 83, I believe.
I thought it was pretty funny.
This is getting ridiculous. People need to let things slide.
They have a right to do it, but one of the problems with Political Correctness is that is seeps into every aspect of our lives. Even in private conversations people today feel compelled to avoid certain topics.
Harvard had the right to fire Larry Summers, and the lab that employed James Watson had a right to fire him, too.
But these inquisitions are very unhealthy for our society and they chill free speech and freedom of thought.
Don’t you find it a little chilling when people are actually sent to rehab for calling someone a bad name, as happened to an actor on a TV series recently (maybe you can remember which one, I think it was a medical series)?
Extremely disturbing. but the market seems to bear it. The NBA has no competition in the United States.
Exactly. Why hide from the truth if they are so proud of it?
"Gay" - pffft.
Wait, it gets worse. Have you heard that in another country they are demanding that Santa says, "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho"? Forgot which country.
In poker, a king is called a “cowboy.”
I’ve heard the term “brokeback mountain hand.” It’s where you lose with a pair of kings. Basically, you got a pair of cowboys and you still take it in the...
Ah, never mind.
"Son the only thing coming out of Texas are steers and queers!"
Yep - Australia. More lunacy.
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