According to former NBA ref Tim Donaghy, NBA ref Bill Kennedy is a vengeful man who held a grudge against the Boston Celtics (players and staff, past and present) for years.
Kennedy publicly announced his homosexuality a few days after Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo called him a gay slur during a recent NBA game.
The incident started after Kennedy issued a technical foul to Rondo in the 3rd quarter of a game between the Kings and Rondo’s former team the Boston Celtics on Dec. 3.
After he was assessed the technical foul, Rondo walked over to Kennedy — and without saying a word — glared at him (see video below). That’s when Kennedy issued a 2nd technical foul to Rondo.
2 technical fouls is an automatic ejection from the game.
Rondo escalated the situation further by pursuing Kennedy across the court and calling the ref a gay slur.
“You’re a mother****ing faggot. You’re a f***ing faggot, Billy,” said Rondo.
The NBA suspended Rondo for one day for “directing a derogatory and offensive term towards a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner upon his ejection.”
In an interview back in 2010, former ref Tim Donaghy implied that then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers also had words with Kennedy about his sexual preference.
Question: one of the referees I’ve been annoyed with over the years is Bill Kennedy, every time he has a Celtics game I almost know that we’re not getting calls. Is his relationships with Doc Rivers or the Celtics organization as a whole something you know about.
Donaghy: That’s a difficult question for me to answer because I certainly don’t want to offend anybody… I’m just gonna come out and say it like it is. It’s no secret on the staff that Bill Kennedy is a homosexual… I don’t have any ill will towards gays or lesbians, but it was no secret that he’s a homosexual. It was known around the league, it was obvious during a game Doc Rivers questioned his sexual orientation and I think that has stuck with Kennedy over the years and he has no love for Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics.