After receiving a technical foul during Tuesday's game, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant appeared to direct a homophobic slur toward referee Bennie Adams, but he says his words "should not be taken literally."
Bryant's reaction was caught on camera on TNT's national telecast of the key Western Conference battle with the San Antonio Spurs. After getting hit with the T, he stormed to the bench, hit his seat before sitting down, threw a towel and then yelled, "Bennie!" toward the court. Bryant then leaned back and muttered what appeared to be a gay slur.
TNT announcer Steve Kerr picked up on Bryant's outburst and said: "You might wanna take the cameras off of him right now, for the children watching from home."
Bryant issued a statement Wednesday afternoon.
"What I said last night should not be taken literally," he said. "My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone."
The video from Tuesday's game "is under review" by the NBA, league spokesman Tim Frank said to ESPNLosAngeles.com via email.
"We haven't seen the video, so it would be inappropriate for us to comment on it," a Lakers spokesperson told ESPNLosAngeles.com earlier Wednesday.
The Lakers are battling the Mavericks for the second seed in the West. They beat the Spurs 102-93 on Tuesday.
On Monday, the league rescinded Bryant's 15th technical of the season. If it had stood, he would have received his 16th on Tuesday and would have been suspended for the Lakers' season finale. If he receives another T on Wednesday, he would be suspended for the first game next season. Technical counts start over in the playoffs.
Advocacy groups condemned Bryant's comments on Wednesday.
The Human Rights Campaign -- a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization -- said in a statement: "Hopefully Mr. Bryant will recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such language not only offends millions of LGBT people around the world, but also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us, most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate."
The president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, also put out a statement.
"Discriminatory slurs have no place on or off the court," Jarrett Barrios said. "Professional sports players need to set a better example for young people who use words like this on the playground and in our schools, creating a climate of intolerance and hostility. The LA Lakers have a responsibility to educate their fans about why this word is unacceptable."
