We all know Winnipeg forward Evander Kane has a lot of growing up to do. For example, who could forget being photographed with his “money phone” during the lockout while players were claiming poverty and more recently his whining about the NHL playoffs?
Well, on Thursday night he may have crossed too far over the line on Twitter and the backlash has been palpable.
Like most athletes, Kane was watching the NBA Finals and was interacting with fans over Twitter. While talking about a play made by Miami Heat forward/center Chris Bosh, he sent out this inflammatory tweet:
Chris bosh looked like a fairy going to the rim. @stephenasmith
— Evander Kane (@EKane9JETS) June 14, 2013
Sadly, later on he defended his tweet and sent these tweets:
Man there's a lot of overly sensitive people on here. It's unreal how some of you on here turn absolutely nothing into something so wrong.
— Evander Kane (@EKane9JETS) June 14, 2013
As I have said before and I'll say it again if you can't handle real talk #clickunfollow if you can't handle it.
— Evander Kane (@EKane9JETS) June 14, 2013
Casual homophobia has no place in our society. While we are making great strides, there is much work to do. Every few months, we see another state legalizing same-sex marriages while in Canada it’s federally permissible to do so. We have also done away with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in our military which caused many brave servicemen and women to hide who they were out of fear of a dishonorable discharge, to include a close friend of mine in the unit I served with in the Army. I looked up to him, not only because he was a great man but because he was brave enough to risk everything he had worked for in his career just to serve.
We have also seen these strides carry over to the sports world. People such as Robbie Rogers of the Los Angeles Galaxy, free agent basketball player Jason Collins, Jallen Messersmith of the Kansas University men’s basketball team, and Megan Rapinoe of the United States Women’s Soccer National Team are some of the athletes of our generation who have blazed a trail for future athletes to feel as though they have a place in sports.
The actions of Patrick Burke and the You Can Play Project have put this issue to the forefront of American sports, and rightfully so. No person should feel as though they aren’t welcome in a locker room. If we are to objectively say that statistics are correct, chances are that there is a homosexual player in the Winnipeg locker room. If so, how can that player trust Kane enough to share that kind of personal information? Teammates are supposed to be able to trust each other and things like this can cause major rifts in a team’s chemistry.
Not only does this make Kane look bad, but what about the Jets organization? This isn’t the first time Kane has caused negative publicity for them and it seems as though he’s not learning his lesson. What exactly are the Jets doing to help him mature? As someone who is a representative of their club, it’s vitally important he stops being put in newspapers and blogs for the wrong reasons. At some point, the Jets may need to make a tough choice about Kane’s future if he can’t find a way to stop inserting his foot into his mouth.
I genuinely hope Evander Kane realizes why the words he chose to use are hurtful and can be sincere in his apology when he makes it.
