Former National Basketball Association star John Amaechi, the first NBA player to come out of the closet, has slammed Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant for calling a referee “a f**king f***ot” during a game against the San Antonio Spurs Monday.

To Ameachi, Bryant may as well used the N-word, he tells Breaking Celebrity News.

Amaechi, 40, who played against Bryant in the late 1990s, says he believes Bryant made matters worse by issuing a lukewarm apology and appealing the $100,000-fine that the basketball league levied against him.

Multi-millionaire Bryant was fined $100,000 by the league for heckling referee Bennie Adams. The baller was caught by live television cameras mouthing the words after being benched.

Speaking from his home in London, Amaechi told Breaking Celebrity News exclusively: “It was incredibly foolish -- it made matters worse because it was really a non-apology.

“Kobe Bryant who is a culture-setter in today’s society and never really fully addressed the implications of what he actually said. He seemed to be apologizing for the way people would interpret what he said, not the literal meaning of it. He did not accept full responsibility.”