Slur posted on Brandon Rush's Twitter

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INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers can't yet talk to guard Brandon Rush about insensitive comments that recently were posted on his Twitter account.

During a disagreement, an anti-homosexual slur was posted on Rush's account, @IamThaKing25. The comment and the rest of the thread have since been removed. Rush's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said the account was hacked.

Pacers president Larry Bird and general manager David Morway still aren't allowed to talk to players because the NBA lockout isn't officially over.

Bird spoke in general terms about mistakes Thursday.

"I was young once," he said. "I did a lot of things I regret. All we can do is inform the guys how we feel about it and be careful out there."

Bird said it's a "different world" now, and that's why he doesn't have a Twitter account. Still, he trusts his players.

"We have concerns, but the culture here is a lot different than it's been in the past," he said. "We expect our players to do the right things, and I think they will."

Morway said Clark Kellogg, the team's vice president of player relations, helps the players understand what risks are posed by social media missteps.

"The league is reviewing the social media policies all the time," Morway said. "Our team's always looking at that, and Clark (Kellogg) always talks to our players about all of those issues. We hope that they're going to make good decisions."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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