Tim Hardaway, who spent 13 seasons in the NBA, was removed from league-related appearances on Thursday, one day after an anti-gay tirade on a local radio program.
Hardaway responded to a question on WAXY about former NBA player John Amaechi and the Englishman's admission of homosexuality with a hardline stance against gay players in the NBA.
"I hate gay people," Hardaway said. "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 sports."
NBA commissioner David Stern told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in a statement that Hardaway had been removed from league-related appearances.
"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," Stern said.
Hardaway, who played for the Miami Heat from 1996-2001 before ending his career in 2003 with Indiana, was part of an NBA community program in Las Vegas leading up to the Nevada city's hosting of tomorrow's NBA All-Star Game.
Amaechi, whose book on his closeted life in the NBA was published on Wednesday, would not have been someone Hardaway wanted as a teammate.
"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," Hardaway said. "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. There's a lot of other people I hear who are like that and still in the closet. I don't like that."
Amaechi has said there are other gay players in the NBA currently so it is entirely possible Hardaway has had homosexual teammates and not even known it.
Hardaway also objected to homosexuals in an interview with a Miami television station.
"I don't condone it and if people got problems with it, I'm sorry. I'm saying I can't stand being around that person, knowing that they sleep with somebody of the same sex," Hardaway said, adding that he would not speak with a member of his own family if that person were gay.
Hardaway later apologized for his comments in a television interview and his agent released a statement from Hardaway later in the day.
"I want to apologize for my comments yesterday regarding gays," Hardaway's statement said. "My comments were offensive and I regret making them. I'm sorry to anyone I have offended."
Amaechi told the Miami Herald that far from being offended, he appreciated Hardaway's comments.
"Finally, someone who is honest," Amaechi told the Herald. "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."
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