On March 9, 2014, Garofalo posted the following on his Twitter account regarding the National Basketball Association: “ Let's be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime ” Public response to what quickly became a viral tweet was mostly negative, with many users calling Garofalo's statement racist. Garofalo responded to a query by the Star Tribune, saying that he was referring to what he called the "NBA's high arrest rate" and the league's drug-testing policy. He then told Minneapolis TV station KARE that he was surprised by the backlash, arguing that his perception of a lawless "culture in all professional sports" was a criticism "that's been going on for decades." The tweet garnered 600 retweets within two hours of its posting, increasing to more than 1,000 overnight. Shortly before noon the following day, Garofalo issued an apology through his office: “ In the last 24 hours, I’ve had the opportunity to re-learn one of life’s lessons: whenever any of us are offering opinions, it is best to refer to people as individuals as opposed to groups. Last night, I publicly commented on the NBA and I sincerely apologize to those who I unfairly categorized. The NBA has many examples of players and owners who are role models for our communities and for our country. Those individuals did not deserve that criticism and I apologize. In addition, it’s been brought to my attention that I was mistaken and the NBA policy on drug enforcement is stronger than I previously believed. Again, I offer my sincere apologies for my comments. ”