As reported by USA Today

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The NBA fined Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert $75,000 on Sunday for his homophobic and vulgar comments following Saturday night’s 91-77 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals that forced a Game 7 series finale against the Miami Heat for Monday.

“While Roy has issued an apology, which is no doubt sincere, a fine is necessary to reinforce that such offensive comments will not be tolerated by the NBA,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.

Hibbert also released an apology through a team spokesperson.

“I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night,” Hibbert said. “They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers’ organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night.”

In Saturday’s postgame news conference, Hibbert uttered a homophobic slur and dropped an expletive directed at reporters.

When asked about his help defense for teammate Paul George on Heat forward LeBron James, Hibbert said, “I really felt that I let Paul down in terms of having his back (in Game 3) when LeBron was scoring in the post or getting to the paint, because they stretched me out so much, no homo.”

Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he talked to Hibbert on Sunday.

“He obviously made a great mistake,” Vogel told reporters. “He’s very contrite, feels horribly about it. But I talked to him and just basically said we’ve got to move on from it. ‘I know you feel terrible and you want to take words back, but you’ve got to — you issued your statement, and you have to move on from it and get your focus back on Game 7.’ ”

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