Kobe Bryant, Lakers Rebound From Gay Slur Controversy

Things have gotten better since the hoop star's use of a a homophobic insult during Monday night's Lakers win over the Spurs

Look's like Kobe Bryant's negative really is turning into a positive.

Just four days after the hoops star was blasted for using a gay slur during the Lakers vs. Spurs game on Friday night...

The Lakers along with NBA executives have agreed to sit down and work with gay media watchdog group GLAAD to help fight homophobia in basketball.

"What happened in Tuesday night's game is not representative of what the Lakers stand for," said Lakers spokesman John Black. "We want to reaffirm our commitment to all our fans and our appreciation for the support we receive from all segments of society. We also understand the importance of positive messages in helping us convey this. We appreciate the input we've received from GLAAD the past two days and will look forward to working with them on ways to help educate ourselves and our fans, and to help keep language like this out of our game."

During the game, Bryant was seen on camera calling a referee a "f--king f----t" after he penalized him with a technical foul. Bryant was fined $100,000 by the NBA. Much to his credit, Kobe not only apologized for his outburst, but he said in an interview with ESPN radio that he was also hoping to meet with gay groups to turn his mistake "into a positive and raise as much awareness as we can to say that it is not OK to...insult and disrespect."

Before his game on Tuesday night, Bryant did have a phone conversation with Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay lobbying group. "We had a very sincere conversation in which he expressed his heartfelt regret for the hurt that his words cause," Solmonese said in a statement. He told me that it's never OK to degrade or tease, and that he understands how his words could unfortunately give the wrong impression that this is appropriate conduct."

GLAAD recently worked with the New York Yankees and World Wrestling Entertainment to help fight homophobia in sports.

"The Los Angeles Lakers have taken a positive step and we look forward to working with them to create messages from players and coaches that combat bullying," GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said. "We also suggested and will continue to advocate for zero tolerance policies for antigay slurs at home games, similar to what the New York Yankees adopted last year."