Nba referee gay

Both players apologized for the comments. We stand against bigotry in all its forms. Longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed to Yahoo Sports Sunday night that he is gay, making him the second openly gay active NBA official after Violet Palmer's announcement in The well-known NBA referee, Billy Kennedy, has no wife, as he has been part of the LGBTQ+ community long before coming out in His coming-out story made him the first openly gay male referee in the league.

Sports Network. Draft Grades. Summer League. Referee Violet Palmer revealed she is gay upon getting married to her longtime partner, Tanya Stinein Sign out. The Dunker Spot.

Bill Kennedy RefRafting: Che Flores becomes NBA’s 1st out nonbinary and transgender referee Flores, who uses the pronoun they, is entering their second season as an NBA staff referee

Kennedy's announcement comes in the wake of the NBA's suspension of Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo, who game officials, including Kennedy, heard unleash a disturbing torrent of anti-gay slurs following his ejection from a game on Dec.

After Kennedy, 49, ejected Rondo with consecutive technical fouls in a Kings loss to the Boston Celtics, Rondo defied league protocol to immediately leave the court and began stalking Kennedy, who had retreated to a far sideline of the floor.

Those qualities will continue to serve him well both as a game official and as a positive influence for others. After a Rondo spokesperson declined comment about the matter when reached by Yahoo Sports earlier Monday, Rondo admitted late Monday afternoon on Twitter he had made the slur, saying his actions "were out of frustration and emotion.

Seham reported that a third official, Bennie Adams, outside of hearing distance, "affirmed that Rondo aggressively pursued referee Bill Kennedy and had to be restrained by teammates and escorted off the floor by Sacramento team security.

In suspending Rondo on Friday, the NBA issued a statement saying that he had been punished for "directing a derogatory and offensive term towards a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner. The Kevin O'Connor Show. While our league has made great progress, our work continues to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

Draft Guide. Play High Score. NBA Cup. Bill Kennedy (referee) William Gene Kennedy (born November 10, ) is an American professional basketball referee for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kennedy graduated from St. Mary's High School in Phoenix, Arizona, and Arizona State University.

Kennedy is the second NBA referee to make a public announcement about being gay.

During the league's investigation, Rondo denied he made the comments. Free Agency. Fantasy Basketball. Rondo is the third NBA player to be punished for the use of anti-gay slurs, but the first to be suspended. Under typical NBA procedure in these cases, the league had two independent experts review the tapes of the confrontation, and they confirmed the referees' accounts on Rondo's language.

The Big Number. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Billy Kennedy attended Arizona State University and began his career [ ]. This was part of the reason why the league took more than a week to make a ruling on Rondo's punishment.