LaMelo Ball, an NBA superstar that plays for the Charlotte Hornets, a team owned by Michael Jordan was talking during an interview after his team’s win over Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks on November 16, 2024. He was asked by a reporter about how they stopped Giannis from hitting the game winning shot in the final few seconds of the game. He replied with “Yeah, we loaded up – no h$*%, but that’s what we wanted. Put the hand up, and then just live with the results.” The NBA found this phrase ‘derogatory’ and ‘offensive’, giving him a warning and fining him $100,000 dollars. After the fact he apologized to the public, saying “I really didn’t mean anything and don’t want to offend anybody. I’ve got love for everybody, and I don’t discriminate.” Ball’s incident may be the most recent one, but there were a few more major fines in the past few years. 

Kevin Durant, who plays for the Phoenix Suns was fined $50,000 dollars in early 2021 for using homophobic language in a text conversation with actor Michael Rapaport after Rapaport criticized Durant for being too sensitive during a post game interview. Rapaport posted screenshots of the texts that Durant sent and then NBA responded by fining him $50k. After a loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Durant  apologized to a reporter about the derogatory, homophobic texts and threats. I read the texts that he sent to Rapaport, and personally I think that this one was in my opinion the worst language out of all three fines, and I’m surprised that he got fined $50,000 dollars less than what LaMelo Ball said. I think the reasoning behind this is that LaMelo Ball said something on live tv at an NBA game, and Anthony Edwards and Durant both were fined about things that they said on their own time in their personal lives. I also can see this situation from another side, and don’t think that the NBA should be able to fine players for things that they did outside the NBA in their personal lives.

NBA superstar Anthony Edwards, who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was fined $40,000 for using homophobic language during an Instagram story. He responded to all the comments on his language by saying, “What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry. It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there’s no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!” Tim Connelly, the Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations had some words about the situation. He said, “We are disappointed in the language and actions Anthony Edwards displayed on social media. “The Timberwolves are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming organization for all and apologize for the offense this has caused to so many.” Conelly and the NBA then agreed on fining Edwards $40,000 as a lesson for his actions. For this incident I feel the same way that I do about the Kevin Durant fine, like it isn’t fair for them to fine people on things they do in their own lives away from the court.