Amare Stoudemire fined $50,000 for tweeting gay slur

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Amare Stoudemire has been fined $50,000 by the NBA after the New York Knicks star tweeted a gay slur.

Stu Jackson, the league's executive vice president of basketball operations, announced the fine Tuesday in a release, calling Stoudemire's language offensive and derogatory.

Stoudemire apologized Sunday to a fan for using the slur in response to a crude tweet in which the fan admonished the All-Star to "make up for this past season."

The fan, (at)BFerrelli, tweeted his comment on Saturday and received a direct message containing an expletive and the slur from the account Twitter verifies as Stoudemire's. BFerrelli, identified by the New York Daily News as Brian Ferrelli, posted a screen shot of the direct message. Direct messages can only be seen by the sender and the recipient.

CBSSports.com's Matt Moore notes that the fine for Stoudemire matches what Joakim Noah received for using the phrase during an NBA game aimed at a fan. Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for a similar incident.