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An overhead view of the basket from the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Source: Doug Pensinger / Getty

Recently we reported a homophobic comment former NBA athlete, Amer’e Stoudemire, said to Israeli media. Well Stoudemire wants to assure us that he was just playing.

After receiving backlash for claiming he would “shower across the street” if he had a gay roommate, the athlete said, “I want to apologize for my offensive comments against the LGBT community. These remarks were taken from a larger interview where a reporter was asking me hypothetical questions, and all my answers had a comedic undertone. The answers I gave were meant to be taken as jokes & I am deeply sorry for offending anyone.”

He continues, “I am open to creating a dialogue to assist the fight the LGBT community encounters daily and will continue to focus on playing basketball.”

Would you accept Stoudemire’s apology?

Many folks where critical of Stoudemire’s “jokes”, including openly gay ex-NBA player Jason Collins. He found Stoudemire’s comments ironic when the player just received the Martin Luther King Jr. Award from the State of Israel, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. The award “is bestowed annually in celebration of Black History Month to individuals who embody the spirit and ideals of Dr. King through their efforts to promote diversity and tolerance.” You can see Collins’ full tweet addressing Stoudemire’s award below.

With Stoudemire’s pledge to create a “dialogue” and “assist the fight the LGBT community encounters daily”, it seems like we’ll have plenty content to hold him accountable.

Joke’s On Us? Amar’e Stoudemire Explains His Homophobic ‘Shower’ Comment  was originally published on globalgrind.com