Tim Hardaway, speaking to columnist Dan Le Batard on his radio show Wednesday, showed why the NBA (despite what the commish would have you believe) is probably nowhere near ready to accept an openly gay player. And he managed to do it in exceptionally ignorant fashion:
“First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team,” Hardaway replied. “And second of all, if he was on my team, I would really distance myself from him because, uh, I don’t think that is right. I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room.”
No, go ahead, Tim. Tell us how you really feel:
“Something has to give,” he said. “And I think the majority of players would ask for him to be traded or they would want to be traded. Or buy him out of his contract and just let him go. Something has to give. If you have 12 other ballplayers in your locker room that are upset and can’t concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court it’s going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate.”
You don’t say. Well, Tim, what if this player was a superstar talent?
“If he were that great something would still have to give,” he said. “People would feel uncomfortable with that. If you’re not gay, nobody in that locker room would feel comfortable with that person on your team.”
I see.
What’s that? You have something to add? By all means:
“You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. 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.”
Tell you what, Tim Hardaway: I’m just going to head over to YouTube and watch you shatter some ankles, and pretend that none of this is real.
(Link: Miami Herald)
(UPDATE: Tim apologized after the radio show: “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.”)
Whew! Glad that’s over with. Moving on…
Just for the sake of piling on, here’s a little bit more Hardaway for you:
-If you thought Timmy’s apology was legit, well, I’m sorry. He’s still the same blithering, hateful idiot.
-Props to Sports By Brooks for digging up a rather amusing link to an Outsports.com article from 2001 listing the “Ten Most Likely Gay Ballers in the NBA”: They ranked Tim at #7.
–Word is that Tim Hardaway is going to be in Vegas this weekend, which is just about the most amazing thing ever.
-Here’s a link to video of Tim enjoying some quality time with the fellas in the locker room. HMMMMMMMMMMM….
(Hey, Sam Smith: I put that together while fully clothed. Eff what ya heard, old man!)
