At a time when the NBA

Noah was fined $50,000 by the NBA -- the correct amount, because it's clear to me that a heat-of-the-moment rant directed at a heckler is worse than doing the same to a game official, which cost Kobe Bryant twice that amount for the same slur. Noah couldn't have been more contrite, expressing his willingness to accept the consequences of his actions cheap fashion.

Case closed. But not really.

This has to be a teaching moment for players across the NBA, and in sports. Another player cannot use that word on the court, on the bench -- anyplace where NBA business is being conducted. (The trustworthy soul in me wants to believe that such hateful speech would be off-limits at home, in the weight room, and at the club, too. But let's just police what we can and hope it carries over to the rest in time custom t-shirts.)

At a time when the NBA is taking the lead in the public discourse on gays in sports, with the universal backing of Suns executive Rick Welts after he came out last week, this can't happen again. Players are creatures of habit, and the NBA has proved that habits can be reformed. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the dress code, NBA players somehow learned to appear in public dressed for work instead of for a pickup game at West 4th Street. It took some time, but the NBA managed to get players to curb their reactions to referees' calls, too. Call this the David Stern mind-control police if you want, but the game is presented in a much more positive light when every stoppage in play isn't punctuated by a tantrum cheap custom t-shirts.