It is not cool to call someone a “fag.”
Especially when your Twitter profile describes you as a “Renaissance Man.”
It is a slur, one of the most reviled words in the English language, which Amare Stoudemire came to realize this weekend.
According to a story on Deadspin, Twitter user Brian Ferrelli received a DM (direct message) from Stoudemire’s Twitter account after Ferrelli tweeted him to “step up his shit.”
There was a problem with the blakbirdpie shortcodeWhen we first saw the DM in question, there was some concern that it may be a fake. I have seen the media get hoaxed before, and I always proceed with an abundance of caution.
But Mr. Ferrelli posted another screenshot today, which included an apology from Stoudemire:
There was a problem with the blakbirdpie shortcodeSo congratulations to Mr. Ferrelli (@BFerrelli) for his 15 minutes of fame, and a word of advice to Amare: Give a watch to the PSA produced by the NBA this season, starring Jared Dudley and Grant Hill.
And watch what you tweet, knucklehead.
Speaking of Twitter and knuckleheads, we present the following from Metta World Peace:
It is unclear what prompted that string of Tweets, and there could be a Brian Ferelli 2.0 out there with a particularly incriminating DM if the former Mr. Artest was angry enough to shoot off 140 characters of vitriol.
But after attending the Josesito Lopez-Victor Ortiz fight at Staples Center with a woman he awarded a ticket to, MWP was out on the town with a bevy of lovelies, as he let us all know via Twitpic:
In other NBA news.
- Luol Deng is in Houston training with the Great Britain men’s Olympic team, and said he would not be surprised if the Chicago Bulls trade him. From ESPN’s Brit stringer, Ian Whittell: “Deng said he does not believe the Bulls are shopping him in retaliation for his decision to delay the wrist surgery he needs until after the Games. But Deng, 27, did acknowledge that he’s not dismissing recent reports suggesting the Bulls are willing to trade him for a top pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, with speculation mounting that Chicago could send Deng to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for the No. 7 overall pick. Former NBA guard Speedy Claxton, now a scout for the Warriors, attended Britain’s practice at the Toyota Center on Sunday afternoon.
- When Mike Miller knocked down seven 3-pointers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, he came within one of the NBA record for a finals game. Who holds it? Answer here in Chris Bernucca’s Sunday notes column.
- Tony Parker, the Spurs’ All-NBA point guard, will return to San Antonio from France on July 5 to have his injured left eye examined, according to his official website, TP9.net. Parker told the Web site he must await post-exam clearance from the Spurs to play for France in the Olympic basketball tournament in London. France is to begin the Olympic competition with a game on July 29 against Team USA. The headline on the website reads “I nearly lost my eye.” Parker was not involved in the fight that took place at the since-shuttered club in the SoHo between the entourages of rappers Drake and Chris Brown, but was injured by flying glass. He recently filed a $20 million lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan against the club and its operators. Parker’s website reported he had surgery on the eye to remove a shard of glass that was “99 percent” in the cornea of his left eye.
- Andre Iguodala’s name is prominent in trade rumors (when isn’t it?), and Sixers team president Rod Thorn have a somewhat mysterious answer when asked about his maneuverings: “Essentially, you draft for talent and you trade for need,” Thorn said. More from John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer: The Sixers go into the draft optimistic that they can improve with the 15th, 45th, and 54th picks.”After a full meeting with coaches and scouts Thursday, Thorn said the team’s biggest needs are to become bigger and more athletic across the front line and to add a shooter. He would not, however, say which players the team was targeting with its first-round pick.
- We all know who the New Orleans Hornet are going to take with the No. 1 pick: Anthony Davis. But what will they do with the Timberwolves pick, which is No. 10? John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says they could be targeting another center, Tyler Zeller, to help replace Chris Kaman (unrestricted free agent) and Emeka Okafor (traded last week to Washington): “Sources say the Hornets are seriously considering North Carolina 7-foot center Tyler Zeller for their 10th overall pick. Zeller worked out for the Hornets on June 4, along with Illinois center Meyers Leonard, Mississippi State power forward/center Arnett Moultrie and Kentucky power forward Terrence Jones. On Saturday morning at the Alario Center, the Hornets worked out five guards that included North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall, Missouri’s Matt Pressey, Washington’s Tony Wroten and European players Evan Fournier and Nihad Djedovic. Since June 4, the Hornets have worked out 16 draft prospects, including nine guards. New Orleans has a final workout scheduled for Wednesday. “It’s good being in the 10th spot because you get a broad range of guys,” Hornets Coach Monty Williams said. “We got a chance to meet some talented guys and you may not draft those guys now, but you never know what might happen in the future. You kind of build an intel base so you have an understanding of what they can do in your practices and system.” In our latest Mock Draft from Joe Kotosh of ProBasketballDraft.com, we have the Hornets taking point guard Damian Lillard of Weber Stete.
- Congratulations (sort of) go out to Quincy Pondexter of the Memphis Grizzlies, who posted the season’s largest trillion, an 11 (That’s 11 minutes of playing time while producing no stats of any sort). For the leader in playoff trillions, there was a three-way tie.