I learned this about a week ago but it has been publicly known for about a decade.
From Wikipedia:
In 1999, after a
Detroit Pistons game, Kennedy shook a boy's hand while on his way to the officials' locker room. He inadvertently bumped a female usher who claimed the next day that Kennedy touched her inappropriately. NBA executive vice president of operations
Rod Thorn immediately suspended Kennedy, which prompted Kennedy to reveal to Thorn that he is gay, and he returned to work.
Kennedy ejected
Boston Celtics'
coach Doc Rivers from a game on March 17, 2009. Rivers was fined $25,000 for remarks he made about Kennedy after the game, and Kennedy was fined an undisclosed amount for his handling of the situation. Rivers reportedly used a gay slur towards Kennedy during the
2009 NBA Playoffs. In 2010, former NBA referee
Tim Donaghy outed Kennedy on a Boston radio show, while referring to Kennedy as a "homosexual"; however the story did not gain any traction.
In December 2015, Kennedy ejected
Rajon Rondo from a game, and Rondo used a gay slur towards Kennedy. After mulling over the consequences of coming out, Kennedy publicly revealed that he is gay, which shifted the conversation from verbal abuse to potential hate speech. Rondo was given a one game suspension.