"I hate Gay People."

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Thursday February 15, 2007 · 5:31 AM PST

2007/02/15 · 05:31

Before I get troll rated into oblivion, be sure that those are not mine. I don't agree with them at all. I do not endorse them. By now, we all know that those words escaped the mouth of Tim Hardaway, a retired NBA basketball player.

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 the Miami radio show Sports Talk 790 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.

Mr. Hardaway was asked the question because another retired NBA player, John Amaechi, announced recently that he was gay.

Amaechi's response to the bigoted tirade:

Amaechi, meanwhile, was quoted in Le Batard's column in Thursday's Miami Herald saying that he was grateful for Hardaway's words.

"Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurb, 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."

As I was driving into work this morning, I was listening to 'Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Guys' on 610 WIP. Someone commented that, of course, the protest and apology and treatment cycle will now begin.

Various gay rights groups would protest the NBA and threaten a boycott. Hardaway and other NBA officials will issue apologies and retractions, declaring that Hardaway will seek 'treatment' for his views while the whole NBA will undergo senstivity training.

I, for one, am tired of this cycle. Whenever someone makes a mistake, or whenever wrongdoing or bigoted behavior is revealed, the wrongdoer always takes advantage of this cycle. Gavin Newsom. Has an affair and is now seeking treatment. Isiah Washington. Calls TR Knight a "f*gg*t" and is now seeking treatment. Ted Haggard. Busted as a hypocritical evangelical and drug user. And he seeks treatment.

I call bullshit.

All of these people immediately avail themselves of the "treatment" option so as to excuse their bigoted behavior or wrongdoing. And they do it so quickly so as to confirm their insincerity.

I say when such bigoted comments are made, the speaker must bear the consequence. Tim Hardaway should always be known as a bigot for the rest of his life. He should be shamed. The NBA should dissociate themselves from him. But the protests and boycotts should end there. There should be no demand of "sensitivity training" or calls for apologies. There should be no boycott. Because such calls and demands have become so commonplace that they are no longer effective. And because responses to such calls and demands are always insincere.

We should just shame Hardaway and react the way John Amaechi reacted:

Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurb, 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.

We should simply call Hardaway a bigot. His words reveal himself. Any apology from would be insincere.

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