Disappointment...

Joakim Noah

I'm personally extremely disappointed in the recent behavior of Joakim Noah, center for the Chocago Bulls team of the National Basketball Association. The towering young star, after his second personal foul, was benched during last Sundays playoff with the Miami Heat. While approaching the bench, he was caught live, on camera, yelling "Fuck you, faggot!" to a heckling fan. I'm sorry, I just expected better from this young man. He's only in his mid-20s, true. In my opinion, that doesn't justify his actions. That alone makes them all that more inexcusable. He's come-of-age in a time when people are free to be themselves and the NBA, his employers, acknowledge the existance of and their responsibility to their gay followers. In my book, he should have and definitely knows better. What he said was totally out of line, offensive and unacceptable for any celebrity or public figure. Period.

To Joakim's credit, he did apologize in an impromptu interview immediately after the Bulls lost to the Heat. "The fan said something that I thought was disrespecful, I got caught up in the moment and I responded. I was frustrated and I didn't mean any disrespect to anyone." He issued an additional formal apology the next day (Monday). The NBA fined him $50,000 and he accepted the fine as a consequence of his misbehavior. That's all good. However, I'm still disappointed in what he said. I know for a fact that he was taught better than his temper demonstrated.

Yannick Noah

Joakim is of both Cameroonian and French heritage. As a mixed-race man, I know for a fact that he's experienced first-hand discrimination due to his ancestry at least a few times in his life.  His father, Yannick Noah, also of mixed racial heritage, is a noted former French Tennis Open competitor and a current French pop singer with immense European fan base. His own attitudes towards gay people, at least publicly, are inclusive and supportive. He didn't raise his son to be a bigoted homophobe. I hope he has cautioned his son since this incident about his choice of words. Perhaps even swatted his skull with his tennis racquet!

Ironically, Yannick himself has been the subject of many gay rumors in his past. As recently as 2005 and 2006, he was villified in the Cameroonian media as being a gay man. There were some politicians in Cameroon (we all know that type) advocating for his arrest. So, we know the son failed to understand the knowledge that his father passed on to him. Hopefully, he'll get the message this time around. The fine and all the negative press just might help reinforce the lesson on inclusion.

Joakim and Yannick Noah