Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN(NEW YORK) — Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire apologized on Wednesday after he made comments in an interview with an Israeli website about a hypothetical gay teammates.
“I want to apologize for my offensive comments against the LGBT community,” Stoudemire said in a statement Wednesday. “These remarks were taken from a larger interview where a reporter was asking my hypothetical questions, and all my answers had a comedic undertone.”
Stoudemire told Israeli website Walla Sport that he would “shower across the street” and “make sure my change of clothes are around the corner” if he had a gay teammate. The website quoted Stoudemire as saying “there’s always a truth within a joke” when asked if he was joking.
“The answers I gave were meant to be taken as jokes, and I am deeply sorry for offending anyone,” he said in his Wednesday statement.
The 34-year-old is playing for Hapoel Jerusalem in the Israeli Premier League. ESPN reports that some teammates told Walla Sport that they “wouldn’t have an issue” with a gay teammate.
In 2012, Stoudemire was fined $50,000 after tweeting a homophobic slur at a Twitter user. He issued an apology after that incident.
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