Last week, Larry Johnson burned his reputation to the ground by using homophobic slurs on twitter. Drew Gooden allegedly decided to go old school by simply shouting slurs at Los Angeles Clippers fans. According to Wikipedia, Drew Gooden was named a “Good Guy in Sports” by The Sporting News but actor Chris Wylde says Gooden used homophobic slurs to describe him and his friend.
Gooden and the Mavericks were at the Staples Center on Saturday night while Wylde was in the crowd. Wylde and his friend were dressed up in Halloween costumes and claim they were subjecting the Mavs bench to good-natured ribbing. He also claims that none of the taunting was directed at Drew Gooden. Gooden was in street clothes with an injury and allegedly encountered the two men near the pro shop. When Gooden recognized them, Wylde claims that the Mav’s player used the slur “faggot” multiple times.
Wylde later emailed Mark Cuban and the Maverick’s owner says that he will investigate the incident and decide a course of action. Nobody really seems to care in the comments section of OutSports. You know why? Because Drew Gooden is clearly a dumbass if he actually did it. Ignorant people with no influence are not worth acknowledging. What… are they going to get all of Gooden’s non-existent sponsorships revoked? At the same time, there’s no real proof other than Wylde’s allegation. Wylde’s friend, who was also on the receiving end of Gooden’s outburst, declined to comment publicly about the incident. That makes me question the veracity of Wylde’s claims.
Who is Chris Wylde? The OutSports article indicates he’s a heterosexual actor with a wife. Hilariously, his Wikipedia entry seems as if it was copied and pasted from the bio on his official website. It turns out that Wylde has also done a number of sports-related commercials. Chris Wylde can currently be seen in an ESPN Monday Night Football ad and also was in the Fox Sports NBA promo below. That seems like another big dent in Wylde’s credibility. He may have used his platform as a victim to reach out to Mark Cuban and to increase his exposure to the sports world.
There’s no defending Gooden if he actually made the remarks. But I think it’s too soon bury the guy based on Wylde’s claims. Even Mark Cuban seemed to express some doubt as to whether or not Gooden actually verbally attacked the men. In any case, I’m hoping we can go at least another week or two before we have to hear about another instance of homophobia in the sports world.
