Paul George tweets about Ray Rice, quickly apologizes
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George appeared to defend former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice on Twitter but quickly apologized after outrage on social media.
George took to Twitter on Thursday morning, saying “If you in a relationship and a woman hit you first and attacking YOU…Then you obviously ain’t beating HER. Homie made A bad choice!"
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George then tried to clarify his remarks:
“I don’t condone hitting women or think it’s coo BUT if SHE ain’t trippin then I ain’t trippin…Lets keep it moving lol let that man play!"
Rice was cut by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL on Monday after TMZ.com posted a video showing Rice knocking out his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City casino elevator.
"I want to apologize to all victims of domestic abuse for my insensitive tweets," George said. "They were obviously without proper understanding of the seriousness of the situation and I sincerely regret my poor choice of words."
SI.com's complete coverage of the Ray Rice situation
George, who is recovering from a broken leg suffered during a Team USA scrimmage in preparation for the FIBA World Cup in Spain, quickly deleted those tweets, but not before multiple media outlets took screenshots of them.
Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird released a statement in response to George's comments.
"Paul George's tweets from earlier were thoughtless and without regard to the subject of domestic violence and its seriousness in society," Bird said. "We have talked to Paul to strongly express our displeasure and made it clear that the NBA and the Pacers' organization will not condone or tolerate remarks of this nature. Paul understands that he was wrong and why his tweets were so inappropriate and is very apologetic."
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