In an effluence of faux naivete, Sun-Timesman Rick Morrissey asks why NBA players call people faggots.

. . . why is faggot the word [Bulls man Joakim] Noah chose in his enraged state? Why is it the word Lakers star Kobe Bryant chose when screaming at a referee last month? Why does that seem to be the insult of choice so often?

And immediately, gosh darn it, answers his question as if to phrase it differently:

On the playground courts, its the ultimate insult, the nuclear bomb. At its kindest, it means youre a wuss.

The United Center is a playground, isn’t it? So the worst thing you can say to a man on a playground is the worst at the United Center. What’s so complicated about that?

He continues:

Ive never quite understood why someones sexuality matters to anybody else, but here we are in 2011 talking about one players ugly reaction to a fan.

And talking and talking and talking. Feigning ignorance if necessary. Wuss-like, you might say.