Amar’e Stoudemire is a former NBA player who now plays professionally in Israel. When he was asked along with other players about having a gay teammate, Stoudemire let his ignorance flow. From Vocativ:

“I’m going to shower across the street, make sure my change of clothes are around the corner, and I’m going to drive… take a different route to the gym.”

As he finishes the sentence, Stoudemire cracks a smile. Unsure if Stoudemire is being serious, his interviewer twice asks if he’s joking.

“I mean, there’s always a truth within a joke,” he responds.

One sign that Stoudemire was not joking is this: In 2012, he was fined $50,000 by the NBA for calling a fan a “fag” on Twitter.

His comments also come with this irony: This month, he was given the Martin Luther King Jr. Award by the State of Israel, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. The award honors those who promote diversity and tolerance. I doubt MLK would have avoided showering with a gay teammate.

The good news in the video clip is that the other players asked about a gay teammate are cool with it.

Update: The next day, Stoudemire issued this apology:

In a statement released Thursday by his current team, Israel’s Hapoel Jerusalem, Stoudemire says the questions were ”hypothetical” and all his answers had ”a comedic undertone.” He says he’s ”deeply sorry for offending anyone” and he’s ”open to creating a dialogue to assist the fight the LGBT community encounters daily.”

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