Hornets’ LaMelo Ball fined $100,000 for ‘derogatory comment’ in postgame interview after win over Bucks

LaMelo Ball has been fined $100,000 for a “offensive and derogatory comment” in a postgame interview on Saturday, the NBA announced Sunday. The anti-gay comment came in the wake of a 115-114 Charlotte Hornets victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, which ended with the Hornets forcing Giannis Antetokounmpo into a mid-range jumper as time expired. He missed, and when Ball was asked about Charlotte’s defense on that possession, he said “we loaded up, no homo. That’s what we wanted, put a hand up and then live with the results.” This is the first fine of Ball’s career outside of the standard $2,000 fine that comes with any technical foul.

This is not the first time the NBA has fined a player for those exact words. In 2023, Spencer Dinwiddie joked that the Brooklyn Nets got the “best-looking” players in their Kyrie Irving blockbuster. In response, Cam Thomas, an incumbent Net at the time, said that “we already had good-looking guys, no homo.” The NBA fined Thomas $40,000.

Going back further, Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for using a different gay slur toward referee Bennie Adams. In 2015, Rajon Rondo was ejected from a game and then suspended for another for directing that same slur at referee Bill Kennedy, who came out as gay after the incident.

Sadly, the NBA has had a persistent problem with such language both on the court and off of it. In 2022, Anthony Edwards shared a video on his Instagram story in which he called a group of shirtless men “queer” before adding “look what the world done came to.” The league has seemingly attempted to send a statement it is no longer willing to tolerate it, as Ball was fined more than twice what Thomas was less than two years later, but only time will tell if that effort proves successful.