The time has come for baller Joakim Noah to pay up for not shutting up when a fan mouthed off at him during a recent game.

The Chicago Bulls center has been fined $50,000 by the NBA after calling a fan a homophobic slur during last Sunday's Game 3 against the Miami Heat. The cable station TNT captured Noah screaming at a fan while he was benched after picking up his second foul.

Noah told USA Today, “The fan said something that was disrespectful towards me. And I went back at him.. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm not like that. I'm an open-minded guy. I said the wrong thing and I'm going to pay the consequences —deal with the consequences — like a man. I don't want to be a distraction to the team right now."

Noah’s fine is only half of what Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant paid for uttering the same slander against a referee last month. But a league’s spokesperson says Bryant’s higher fine included penalties of verbal abuse towards a game official.

(Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)