Rajon Rondo will not play tonight when the Kings face the Rockets, his one-game suspension for having used a homophobic slur to referee Bill Kennedy during a game in Mexico City where Rondo was ejected. Kennedy has since come out as gay.
Monday, Rondo took to Twitter to “apologize” but it did not come off that way. Tuesday he got it right in a second statement.
“Yesterday, I said that my words toward Bill Kennedy were unacceptable and did not reflect my feelings toward the LGBT community. Some have interpreted my comments as a non-apology. I want to be clear, from the bottom of my heart that I am truly sorry for what I said to Bill. There is no place on or off the court for language that disrespects anyone’s sexual orientation. That is not who I am or what I believe and I will strive every day to be a better person.”
This is not going to make everything go away for Rondo, who has worked hard to rehab his reputation )and he’s played fairly well on the court this season). This is a significant setback for Rondo on that front.
Kings fans living in Sacramento who are Comcast Sportsnet subscribers, you can watch a live stream of the Rondo-less Kings taking on the Rockets Tuesday, just follow this link.
This is also a big black eye for the NBA, the one-game suspension coming off as soft. Adam Silver has a lot of work to do, also.