The NBA fined Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah $50,000 for making an anti-gay slur toward a fan on Sunday night.  Noah isn't the only party who needs to be scrutinized.

Joakim Noah was wrong for shouting an anti-gay slur toward a fan in the Miami crowd during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Heat.  He deserved to be punished.  It's interesting, however, that we typically don't question the role of fans when altercations like this occur.

Bulls' forward Luol Deng made an interesting statement about this subject.  Deng said, "There's times where a fan like that, honestly I feel like jumping in the crowd and hitting him.  We're humans, and the camera is not on that fan at all."

It's an interesting thought to consider.  Sure, players cannot react with violence or retaliate by using anti-gay slurs.  Fans need to be held accountable as well though.  Fans get a free pass in instances like this far too often.  Sometimes they deserve a stiffer punishment, or in a lot of cases, a punishment to begin with.

loading...

More From 104.5 THE TEAM