If you play basketball for the Oklahoma City Thunder, this is probably the worst time of the year to tweet a joke about domestic violence. And no, that's not just because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Back in September, everyone's favorite hardworking benchwarmer, Deandre Liggins, was charged with nine felonies following an alleged assault on his girlfriend. The charges included two counts of kidnapping, two counts of domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of domestic abuse in the presence of a minor, and one count of violating a protective order. He was released by the Thunder on September 6th.
Nearly one month later, slowest man in the universe nominee, Kendrick Perkins, was hit with misdemeanor assault charges. They stemmed from a July incident where Perkins allegedly punched a woman and her brother outside a Houston nightclub. According to Ogle Moles, that's illegal. So far, Perk is still on the team. This probably means there's either a little more to the story, or that Kendrick Perkins really does have pics of Sam Presti, Scott Brooks and Rumble snorting blow while herding goats in the mountains of Wyoming.
Knowing about all those very public and recent incidents, you would think that everyone in the Thunder organization would be wary about discussing the topic of domestic violence. Not that it's something that shouldn't be discussed, but it's a sensitive topic and the last thing you want to do is come across as – or even be – some naive or flippant asswhipe who doesn't take the issue seriously.
For example, you don't want to pull a Thabo Sefolosha and make jokes like this on Twitter:
That's hysterical. Who doesn't like a good domestic violence joke referencing deodorant commercials? It's almost as funny/terrifying as Thabo Sefolosha attempting to make a contested jump shot in the playoffs. Let's hope he's never heard the one about the guy from the Irish Spring commercial who used his soap-cutting knife to stab his nagging wife in the nose. Apparently, she complained about his awful smell. I can't remember how it goes, but I think he also throws her into the waterfall. It's real funny.
I guess it should be noted that Thabo isn't the regular comedian who originally tweeted the joke. He ask his followers to submit jokes, and he then retweeted a few of them to his 113,000 Twitter followers, unaware that his profile didn't include the "Retweets do not constitute endorsements" disclaimer. I think this either proves:
A) Thabo Sefolosha is really naive. (It would make sense. He did pose for a So6ix pictorial.)
B) Thabo Sefolosha has a very low sense of humor.
C) Thabo Sefolosha thinks domestic violence is funny.
Right now, I'm going to say it's a combination of A and B. In addition to the "See, my hand is strong enough to hit a man, but it was made to assault women" zinger, Thabo also re-tweeted these hysterical gems:
Yep, he threw in a gay joke, but didn't mention the punchline. It is:
Funny stuff! I can't wait to see Thabo on next season of Big Brother. He'll fit right in and charm everyone with his funny observations about rape and the holocaust.
Okay, those jokes aren't that bad, but it will be still interesting to see if anything comes of it. The Thunder is the most image-conscious of image-conscious organizations. I'm sure the Ministry of Propaganda has already talked with him about it. I bet they ask him to take the tweets down or convert them to Swiss.
(Update: As predicted, Thabo has removed the tweet from his Twitter feed.)
And just to clarify, I'm playing the role of sardonic messenger here.I do think jokes can be made about "sensitive" topics. They just need to be told in the garage with your buddies, and not a public forum like Twitter. They also need to be funny. If not, the jokes generally fall flat and upset people. You know, kind of like Thabo Sefolosha leading a fast break.
