15, 373 points. 7,095 assists. 1,428 steals. All of Tim Hardaway’s statistics wiped away by four words:

“I hate gay people.”

It seems like every newspaper, sports talk radio show and sports blog has picked up on the story that I first heard about while laying in bed last night after watching ‘Lost.’ My stomach churned as I listened to Hardaway tell Miami Herald columnist and sometimes-ESPN talking head Dan LeBatard describe his stance on homosexuality in NBA locker rooms. In the wake of former NBA center John Amaechi coming out of the closet, it seems that anyone who ever wore an NBA jersey has been asked how they’d feel if one of their teammates was gay. The responses have ranged from surprisingly refreshing (Charles Barkley) to awkward and quasi-homophobic (LeBron James) to ignorant and flat-out homophobic (Shavlik Randolph) to revolting and bigoted (Hardaway).

I certainly don’t think that Hardaway’s comments are in anyway indicative of the way the majority of NBA players, or for that matter the majority of Americans, feel about homosexuals in any workplace.

All Hardaway did when he told LeBatard that homosexuals had no place in this country was diminish what was an otherwise respectable NBA career. Was Hardaway one of the greatest point guards ever to play the game? Not by a longshot. However from this point forward, when someone mentions the name “Tim Hardaway,” you won’t think of a no-look pass or his patented cross-over, you’ll think of the moment when Dan LeBatard challenged Hardaway’s comments as “flatly homophobic” and bigoted and Hardaway branded himself forever as a bigot.

Here’s a link to a transcript of the conversation posted by the Miami Herald.

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