Tim Hardaway says he "hates gay people"...

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Retired NBA star Hardaway says he hates 'gay people'

Former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway said on a radio show Wednesday afternoon that he would not want a gay player on his team.

"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," Hardaway said. "I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

Hardaway was a guest of Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard on Miami sports radio station WAXY-AM and was asked how he would deal with a gay teammate. When asked if he would accept an active player's coming out, such as that of retired NBA center John Amaechi, Hardaway replied: "First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team.

"And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that's right. And you know I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that," he said.

John Amaechi appeared on "Mike & Mike In The Morning" on Thursday to respond to Tim Hardaway's comments. Best of Mike & Mike

NBA commissioner David Stern, upon learning of the remarks Wednesday, banished Hardaway from All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," Stern said in a statement Thursday.

Stern said he had not spoken with Hardaway, who left Las Vegas on Thursday, but he planned to do so.

While Stern said a discussion about openly gay players could be part of future rookie orientation programs, he doesn't see a need to address the league.

"This is an issue overall that has fascinated America. It's not an NBA issue," Stern said, pointing to the ongoing debate over gay marriage at the state and federal levels.

"This is a country that needs to talk about this issue," he said. "And, not surprisingly, they use sports as a catalyst to begin the dialogue."

Hardaway apologized for his comments, which came a week after Amaechi became the first former NBA player to say he was gay.

"As an African-American, I know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause," Hardaway said Thursday in a statement issued by his agent. "I regret and apologize for the statements that I made that have certainly caused the same kinds of feelings and reactions.

"I especially apologize to my fans, friends and family in Miami and Chicago. I am committed to examining my feelings and will recognize, appreciate and respect the differences among people in our society," he said. "I regret any embarrassment I have caused the league on the eve of one of their greatest annual events."

Hardaway, who played in five All-Star Games during the 1990s, was already in Las Vegas and scheduled to make a series of public appearances this week on behalf of the league. He attended an NBA Cares event at a Las Vegas YMCA with Knicks forward Jerome Williams on Tuesday. The ex-U.S. Olympian was also originally scheduled to be an assistant coach at a wheelchair game Thursday night and later appear at the fan-oriented Jam Session.

Le Batard, who also writes for ESPN The Magazine, quoted Amaechi in a Miami Herald column saying the ex-NBA player was grateful for Hardaway's words.

"Finally, someone who is honest," he said. "It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far."

Thursday morning, on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike in the Morning, Amaechi said although the reaction to his coming out has been "overwhelmingly positive," Hardaway's comments seemed to trigger similar statements from others.

"Every comment that [Hardaway] made is labeled with hate," Amaechi said. "The percentage of e-mails I've received overnight that are going to have to go into a little box somewhere just in case I end up dead are unbelievable. He's been a lightning rod for people to finally open the floodgates and decide that they can say some pretty awful stuff.

"I will say this about the Tim Hardaway comments and the comments of people like him ... these are the loud comments that pollute the air," Amaechi said. "These are the comments that create the atmosphere that allow some of the tragic incidents of homophobia that we've seen. This is what makes the lives of gay and lesbian young people in schools miserable. It's what stops gay and lesbian people in the workplace from coming out as well as the fact they can be fined in 33 states for being gay. These are part of the problem."

Hardaway apologized late on Wednesday for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox affiliate WSVN-TV in Miami.

"Yes, I regret it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that," he said. "That was my mistake."

Hardaway played for five NBA teams from 1990-2003 and was a five-time All-Star. He finished with averages of 17.7 points and 8.2 assists.

On Mike & Mike on Thursday morning, Amaechi also said he was heartened by the NBA's response to Hardaway's comments.

"I think Commissioner Stern is absolutely right. ... I've been in contact with the NBA offices and it is not the views of the NBA as an organization," he said. "I don't think that people give NBA players enough credit ... some of them definitely don't agree with those views"

Two major gay and lesbian groups denounced Hardaway's remarks.

"Hardaway's comments are vile, repulsive and indicative of the climate of ignorance, hostility and prejudice that continues to pervade sports culture," said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "And by apologizing not for his bigotry but rather for giving voice to it, he's reminding us that this ugly display is only the tip of a very large iceberg."

Said Matt Foreman, president of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force: "Hardaway is a hero to thousands of young people. And that's what makes his comments so troubling. Sadly, his words simply put the pervasive homophobia in the NBA on the table."

Amaechi taped a spot Thursday for PBS' gay and lesbian program "In the Life." He said the anti-gay sentiment remains despite Hardaway's apology.

"It's vitriolic, and may be exactly what he feels," he said. "Whether he's honest or not doesn't inoculate us from his words. It's not progress to hear hateful words."

------------------------------------------------

Hardaway's world: 'I hate gay people'

By DAN LE BATARD
dlebatard@MiamiHerald.com

How do you deal with a gay teammate?

''First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team,'' former Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway said Wednesday. "Second of all, if he was on my team, I'd really distance myself from him. I don't think he should be in the locker room when we are in the locker room. I wouldn't even be a part of that. . . . I'd ask for him to get traded. Something has to give. The majority of the players would ask for him to be traded, or they would want to get traded. Or just buy him out of his contract and let him go.''

But, Tim, you realize that's bigotry and homophobia?

''I hate gay people,'' Hardaway said in an interview on 790 The Ticket. "I let it be known. I don't like gay people. I don't like to be around gay people. I'm homophobic. I don't like it. There shouldn't be a world for that or [a place] in the United States for it. I don't like it.''

There it is, ignorance and hatred without a filter, coming from one of the most popular players in Heat history. And Hardaway is hardly alone, even though he is the first to voice it so plainly since John Amaechi last week became the first former NBA player to come out of the closet.

Amaechi's response?

''I'm actually tempted to laugh,'' Amaechi said Wednesday. "Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far.''

SHOCKING WORDS

You've heard the fuzzy language. LeBron James said he'd have trouble trusting a gay teammate. Wide receiver Andre Johnson said he wouldn't want to share a shower with a gay teammate. The 76ers' Shavlik Randolph said he'd be fine as long as said player ''didn't bring your gayness on me.'' Hardaway, always blunt, turned mere discomfort into transparent hate, talking in a way that was shocking to hear. And now you know why Amaechi is the first in the history of his sport -- that's a lot of players, folks -- to announce he is gay.

Amaechi is grateful for Hardaway's words, believe it or not. It gets the conversation going, and gets ugly things out in the light. Publicists have been pushing their athletes away from this uncomfortable question, trying to avoid the kind of trouble Hardaway's words cause. The Heat franchise is going to have to apologize for him today, and that's just the start. If Hardaway, who apologized to WSVN-TV later Wednesday, according to The Associated Press, was still on television, he'd be fired. An apology doesn't erase those words, doesn't change those words.

Amaechi is the smartest athlete I've ever met in two decades in this business.

He is uniquely qualified to be an eloquent spokesman for his cause. But he is terrified and exhausted while fighting it during his book tour, at least in part because hatred is scary, heavy and awfully unpredictable.

And although Hardaway doesn't speak for everybody, neither does Charles Barkley when he says this is simply a media issue.

''Hey, nobody cares John Amaechi is gay,'' Barkley said. "I just find it humorous and amazing people think we care if someone is gay or not. It is always fun to hear these reporters say how we'd treat them in the locker room. Trust me, we'd treat reporters a lot worse than we treat a gay guy.''

WHAT IF?

But what would it be like? There's a reason no active player in a male team sport has ever come out. There's a reason that the one who does while active would cross the last uncrossed barrier in sports and become a modern-day Jackie Robinson. Barkley sounds naive.

''You don't think we've all played with gay guys?'' Barkley said. "Of course we have. It has never been an issue. America, the more I live in it, the more I realize how full of it we are. If we're not bombing the wrong country, we're not fixing hurricane-relief areas.

"America is homophobic. It's so easy for [reporters] to say the other jocks won't like it. America discriminates against gay people, but we've all played with gay people.''

There's no way to know how an entire macho league would react to an outed gay athlete. There have been Internet rumors for months now that a current NBA player has already come out privately to his family. The reaction if he is outed? It will be somewhere between Hardaway's hate, Barkley's indifference and Mavs owner Mark Cuban's contention that the first gay NBA player will be a rich, pioneering hero. But Hardaway's words give voice to at least one person's truth:

The league isn't quite ready for this.



Crazy shit...Didn't think anyone would be as dumb as him to actually come out and say it.

[Sikotic™]

Nah, he said "I hate gay peoples"

The dumbfuck must hate english grammar too.

[Smoke Break]

I hope someone teams him up with barkley for a nightly show, at least he has the balls to speak his mind without running to rehab afterward.

[everlast1986]

Who even cares that John Amaechi's gay? who even cares about John Amaechi? why don't they just talk about basketball and not about whos gay. Tim Hardaway wouldn't have even said that. And fuck David Stern.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

Who even cares that John Amaechi's gay? who even cares about John Amaechi? why don't they just talk about basketball and not about whos gay. Tim Hardaway wouldn't have even said that. And fuck David Stern.

The media is blowing this out of proportion. No one really cares that he came out of the closet.

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

 

[thisoneguy360]

Dudes a fuckin idiot, He blatanlty said I hate Gay People in all these different forms, now he's on Sports Center saying "I'm not that kind of guy it was a long plane ride" LOL get the fuck outta here

[R-Tistic]

LOL....he shouldn't have said it like that....but we know that his thoughts represent 75% of the league and how they truly feel....including the 5% who hate gay people, but love gay sex.

[herpes]

props to tim hardaway.  In this day and age where everyone is politically correct and affraid to hurt other peoples feelings, he jus said fuck it and this is how i feel.

[Antonio_]

What's the problem? He hates gay people. Amaechi is gay.

[Lunatic]

props to tim hardaway.  In this day and age where everyone is politically correct and affraid to hurt other peoples feelings, he jus said fuck it and this is how i feel.

["THE" MoSav]

freedom of speech

[swangin and bangin]

freedom of speech

and
what he spoke was the truth

[h cottie is bac-tive?]

i applaude him

[fittyycent]

HAHAAHAHHAHAHA Tim Hardaways hilarious who cares its a free world he can speak his mind you don't have to fine the guy for it. It was mean but Tim hardaway did take it a little to far