MIAMI – Udonis Haslem was leading some banter with Miami Heat teammates after practice Monday, the jokes and laughter helping everyone wind down after practice.

That’s how he defines locker room talk, and many other athletes and coaches say their experiences have been similar. But others – men and women – say comments like those made by Donald Trump and caught on tape are not unusual.

Trump’s characterization of his crude comments as “locker room talk” has raised the ire of plenty of athletes, most saying that what goes on even in private doesn’t match what the Republican presidential nominee said on the now-infamous leaked tape.

“I don’t know what locker room he’s been in,” Haslem said. “No, I didn’t appreciate it, to be completely honest. That’s not our locker room talk. I don’t know Trump very well at all, but I don’t know who he’s played for the last couple years to even say he’s been in anybody’s locker room and had those kind of conversations.”

On the tape, recorded in 2005, Trump brags about kissing women, grabbing their genitals and trying to have sex with women other than his wife. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he bragged. “You can do anything.”

During Sunday’s second presidential debate against Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Republican nominee acknowledged his remarks were crude, but said they were essentially harmless because he never acted on them.

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“This was locker room talk,” Trump said Sunday. “This was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it . . . This was locker room talk. Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it, and I hate it, but it’s locker room talk.”

Many athletes fired back at Trump, insisting that they don’t talk the way he does. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson , Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris Conley, Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers and retired NFL players Donte Stallworth and Chris Kluwe all were among the first to speak out, and many have since followed.

“It didn’t sound like any talk in any locker room that I’ve ever been in, so maybe it was just a phrase,” Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins said. “But it was wrong.”

CRUDE REMARKS PERSIST

Saying it’s never heard, however, is a stretch. Some said they hear crude, profane or degrading comments routinely.

“Most definitely,” said Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker, when asked if he’s heard the off-color chatter. “Yeah, I have.”

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Ron Darling, the former major league pitcher who’s now a television analyst, said such language isn’t hard to find – and it’s found in the locker room, the boardroom and country clubs.

The hard part, for Darling, was trying to avoid it – which he said he would do by walking away.

“Every repugnant thing that you can think of has probably been said in a clubhouse at some point,” Darling said at Fenway Park Monday night, right before the Indians-Red Sox playoff game.

“The thing about it is that it’s the lowest common denominator thing. So it’s the person with the foulest and worst mind and mouth is the person that becomes the loudmouth in the clubhouse,” he said.

“A lot of times clubhouses get associated with that person. It’s a shame. It’s why I chose personally – if my mom heard me say things like that, she would beat the (expletive) out of me.”

The majority of athletes and coaches who have spoken out since the tape was released by The Washington Post on Friday insist that most locker room chatter stops well short of what Trump said on the tape about grabbing women.

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But at the WNBA Finals, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the mere notion of “locker room talk” reinforces the fact that women aren’t treated equally.

“He was trying to say, ‘It’s what men do.’ And that to me is the inherent problem,” Reeve said. “It IS what men do. Let’s not have all these men stand up and say, ‘Well, we don’t do that!’ … Donald Trump’s candidacy has shined the light on so many problems that exist that I always talk about. He is the epitome of all these things. He’s not alone. It is behavior that’s been accepted for years.”

“If that is the actual talk that’s happening in locker rooms, it’s time to look at the leaders and examine their culture as to why those conversations happen,” Miami women’s basketball coach Katie Meier said.

Dolphins linebacker Jelani Jenkins said the culture within locker rooms has changed for the better in recent years – and it may be because there’s been more of a crackdown when issues arise.

“For sure,” Jenkins said. “People have gotten in trouble for certain things, like bullying, homophobia, different things like that that are very sensitive subjects. So guys are really careful what they say.”

Washington State football coach Mike Leach – who introduced Trump at a rally in Spokane earlier this year – said there was no justification for Trump’s comments.

However, he still supports Trump.

“There are no perfect people out there,” Leach said.


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