First the fan wants to take him.. then he issues an apology. I guess he realizes that this is bad PR for his company so that is why he is issuing an apology. I get the impression that he is not making this apology because he understands what he did was wrong, rather he just doesn't want his company to look bad. ----------------------- Magic Fan Wants Apology Over 'Monkey' Heckling Incident An Orlando Magic basketball fan ejected from a recent game after saying a Houston Rockets star looked like a "big monkey" has hired an attorney and is demanding an apology from the player and the NBA, according to Local 6 News. During the recent Houston Rocket basketball game at the TD Waterhouse Centre, fan Hooman Hamzehloui yelled what some consider a racial slur to Houston player Dikembe Mutombo, Local 6 sports director Todd Lewis said. Hamzehloui is a longtime Magic basketball fan who constantly heckles opposing teams during games. "And I said, 'Dikembe, you look like a big monkey,'" Hamzehloui told Lewis. Mutombo heard the comment and had to be restrained on the court. After the comment, Hamzehloui was ejected from the game and forced to leave the arena. Hamzehloui told Local 6 News that what he said to Mutombo was not racist. "I am not racist at all," Hamzehloui said. "I am a minority myself and I have a lot different races of friends. In fact, sometimes we call ourselves the United Nations." Mutombo released a statement about the incident: "He was insulting my races, my family, my integrity. I hope they don't allow him to come back. If I get fined, I will go straight into the stands next time and (mess) somebody up." "I'm pretty offended that he is calling me racist when he does not know who I am and based on one comment," Hamzehloui said. Hamzehloui said he has hired an attorney and is demanding an apology from Mutombo for his reaction and the NBA for throwing him out of the game. "Dikembe has mentioned how he wants me to be removed from the NBA games, period," Hamzehloui. "And I tell Dikembe to go ahead and bring that on and we will see if he wants to rack up a bunch of legal fees because I will not lose my right to watch the Magic. I love them way too much and we have a great team this year. Bring that on if you want, it is not happening big guy." "This is a touchy subject for the Orlando Magic because Hamzehloui is a corporate sponsor," Lewis said. The league is looking into the incident, according to the report. link ---------------------------- Fan apologies to Mutombo By Brian Schmitz The Orlando Sentinel (MCT) ORLANDO, Fla. - Hooman Hamzehloui, an Orlando Magic season-ticket holder who was ejected from a preseason game last Thursday night for heckling Dikembe Mutombo, has sent the Houston Rockets center a letter of apology. He also vowed to never attend another Magic game until Mutombo notifies the club to approve his return. Hamzehloui also wrote in the letter obtained by the Orlando Sentinel that he would donate $5,000 to a charity of Mutombo's choice. Mutombo said after the game that a fan used what he considered a racial slur, calling him a "monkey" and making faces at him. Mutombo, who had to be restrained from going into the stands and made an obscene gesture in return, wanted the NBA office to investigate the matter. The league said it was looking into it. Reached late Sunday, Hamzehloui, a Windemere, Fla., resident and Realtor, said he didn't know "using the word `monkey' was bad." He also said he was a "small corporate sponsor" who hosted a party "to sell Magic tickets" last Wednesday night that was attended by Magic players. After making those brief comments, Hamzehloui said he wanted to issue a statement. Hamzehloui's letter to Mutombo reads, in part, "Dear Mr. Mutombo: I would like to take a moment of your time to offer a complete and unconditional apology for my poor behavior, and in particular, my poor choice of words last Thursday night while attending the Houston-Orlando basketball game. "I am by no means a racist, and if you only knew me better you would never begin to have those thoughts. What I am guilty of is poor judgment in the use of words while doing what I do to many of the visiting team's players `heckle them.' " Hamzehloui wrote that he wanted to apologize in person. He also said he would not be "attending any more Magic games until you tell them it's OK for me to attend or the Magic say it's OK to come back." link --------------------
We will see if David Stern and the NBA have the backbone to do what is right. This guys should never be allowed in an NBA arena again. There is no way a sensible person would consider his comments appropriate under any terms.
Surely the fan knows that Deke has made more money (and gave away) in his playing career, than the fan's own life. Ah well, at least he apologized.
Being a minority doesn't mean he can't be a racist, moreover, it doesn't mean he can't be a xenophobe.
any "fan" who results to racial epitaphs needs to come to grips of reality, yes mr. helmanziaadjibouti or whateva the hell might be a minority but the struggle in African countries is something overlooked by the media. and Mutumbo has easily become one one of my fav. players for his work as a humanitarian
I don't understand the first article. He wants an apology from Mutombo? Dude, at a minimum you just cracked an extremely personal insult. Going further, it was likely racial in context - had Mutombo been white, it would have been some other comment. And he wants the apology?
WTF? That's a 180 degree turn. I'm guess his company is putting pressure on him after he made those dumb ass statements.
i love the "I can't be a racist, my best friend is [insert race]" defense. So pitiful. The guy is a sleeze, i like the cage fight idea. Hamidzjflkdj is a loser. The only person allowed to be called ape-like is patrick ewing. jk. sorry, that might be over the line, but honestly, he looks kind of funny? but i'm not a racist, my best friend is black, so...
How is calling someone a monkey not a racial slur? The intelligence of some people is just beyond comprehension. Talk about being sensitive...
Seems like the guy just reallly did not know the historic context of the word "monkey" as related to race. It also looks like he's been informed of that now and apologized. I figure Dikembe will accept his apology. It might suprise some of us that not everyone knows the history/background of race relations in this country, but it happens. Watch Kevin Smith's Clerks 2 for an example of this. This incident is not much different than Steve Kerr calling Yao a Chinaman.
Ban him for a racist comment? Did the guy who threw a beer at Artest get banned for life? (I seriously don't know) Is there a precedent for that? I do know that if we're banning people for yelling stuff, we should be banning guys for punching fans.
c'mon, don't be so naive. the guy stated himself that he often 'heckles' the other team's players. how do you heckle them? you certainly don't use praise or neutral words to do that. i bet he knew full well the words he used meant and he was hoping to anger whoever recieving them and got away with it. bast**d! agree on the dikembe accepting his appology part, but only because he's the bigger man here anyway. and there is no comparison between this and the steve kerr incidence. kerr was commenting on the game and ignorant about that word, and he appologized as soon as someone cleared up for him. this guy on the other hand ...
Seems to me that the guy now realizes that he was an idiot, has apologized, and wants to make it right. I think it's time for a little forgiveness. I hope he's more sensitive in the future.
