Earth to straight guys: there are much easier ways for gays to see naked men in locker rooms than joining the military or becoming a pro athlete.
Retired NBA guard Tim Hardaway announced Feb. 14 that he hates gay people and pretty much wants them wiped off the face of the earth.
"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," he said. "I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."
Hardaway's declaration came a week after retired NBA player John Amaechi came out as gay. Having a gay teammate wouldn't fly with Hardaway.
"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team," Hardaway said. "And I think the majority of players would ask for him to be traded or they would want to be traded…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."
Oddly Wolf Blitzer seemed to justify Hardaway's theory on The Situation Room. "But is this the situation like gays in the military, within close quarters — the locker rooms in the NBA, these guys are all together. Is that an issue that is worrisome because of this…?"
Earth to straight guys: there are much easier ways for gays to see naked men in locker rooms than joining the military or becoming a pro athlete.
According to MSNBC, Hardaway "lost at least one of his endorsement deals" and was "banished from some NBA-sanctioned appearances he was scheduled to make in Las Vegas as part of the All-Star weekend."
As a result Hardaway made a turn around to rival Tim Haggard's.
"I don't hate gay people," Hardaway said Feb. 18. "I'm a goodhearted person. I interact with people all the time. … I respect people. For me to say 'hate' was a bad word, and I didn't mean to use it."
The uproar over his comments took him by surprise. "It was like, you know, I had killed somebody," he said. "I never knew that this was going to escalate that high."
Hardaway is doing his best to cover his ass now. Whether he's sincere or not, it's clear he realizes that being an out and proud homophobe is as cool as being an out and proud racist. "As an African-American, I know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause," Hardaway said in a statement. "I regret and apologize for the statements that I made that have certainly caused the same kinds of feelings and reactions…I am committed to examining my feelings and will recognize, appreciate and respect the differences among people in our society."
"I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem," Amaechi told The AP in response to Hardaway's anti-gay diatribe. "People said that I should just shut up and go away – now they have to rethink that."
Indeed, their sponsorships may depend on it.
