Larry Bird and Paul George released statements on Thursday regarding tweets that were sent out by George stemming from Ray Rice's domestic violence incident in the NFL.

"Paul George's tweets from earlier were thoughtless and without regard to the subject of domestic violence and its seriousness in society," Bird said. "We have talked to Paul to strongly express our displeasure and made it clear that the NBA and the Pacers' organization will not condone or tolerate remarks of this nature. Paul understands that he was wrong and why his tweets were so inappropriate and is very apologetic."

"I want to apologize to all victims of domestic abuse for my insensitive tweets," George said. "They were obviously without proper understanding of the seriousness of the situation and I sincerely regret my poor choice of words."‎