Hardaway's Comments Warrant Further Study

The NBA has banished Tim Hardaway from the All Star Weekend for his anti-gay comments made recently on the radio. With the NBA dealing with the buzz created over the announcement of John Amaechi being gay, they have decided to distance themselves from Hardaway's comments, which critics cite as the tip of the iceberg where NBA players' sentiments may truly be.

"His views are not consistent with ours," Stern said.

Sounds more like policy-making than anything else.

Critics and gay right activists assert that a larger, silent majority of NBA athletes harbor similar views about gay teammates as Tim Hardaway.

The real question then would be only starting to be asked. What is the actual sentiment of the NBA player over gay athletes?

"I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem," Amaechi said. "People said that I should just shut up and go away — now they have to rethink that."

Lebron James recently stated it was about trust in the lockerroom, and not about whether or not the player is gay. It seems trust would be the codeword in question, as what difference would it make what a guy's sexual preference is in regards to trustworthiness?

Still, the real trouble here could be intolerance of views - including Tim Hardaway's stance against homosexuality.

Hardaway appropriately labeled himself as homophobic - which is simply the fear of gay people. Not the hatred of gays, even though he did say that he hated homosexuals. If that hatred was expressed, it has yet to reveal itself where Hardaway is concerned.

But why shouldn't we also hear Hardaway's point of view? Why shouldn't we follow up and examine his thoughts and why he actually thinks that way? This would enable us to get to the root cause of the problem. Maybe his basis is religious, based on interpretation of his religious doctrine? Or maybe, it is simply based on ignorance? Or perhaps, based on an identity - on the ego-driven identity that is fueled by competition and the identity of what exactly constitutes manliness?

The problem here isn't Tim Hardaway, at least whereas society is concerned. The problem is that there are members of our society that do share a similar view and interestingly, we would rather turn a deaf ear to it or just shut them up. If we are truly going to progress as a society, we have to be able to elicit discussion of opposing points of view and also entertain those opposing points of view.

To entertain a thought is simply to examine it, to shine a light on it and ask the question "why?". It doesn't mean you have to believe it.

We should be uncomfortable talking about these things. Discomfort calls for change, calls for us to pay attention but in our instantly-gratified society, we are all to comfortable with running away from tough issues, running away from anything that is real or challenging.

Here, we just want Tim Hardaway to shut up and go away. Sweep him and his views, as if he and he alone owns them, under the rug. In his apology, he said he was very sorry, deeply sorry in fact, but it seemed more in regards to the negative reaction that he has recieved and has brought upon his family. He also said he was not allowed to comment any further - by whom? And why? The damage has already been done.

Or has it? Is there more?

Our society is hypocritical. We are supposed to support the freedom of speech and the expression of thought. That doesn't mean that we have to support hatred, but we at least have to acknowledge its existence and if we are to change it, we must at least entertain the discussion in order to examine it truthfully.

Otherwise, how is real progress made?

Tim Hardaway: I Hate Gays

We live in a world that is constantly in-touch with one another. In an instant, you can find out what is happening on the complete opposite side of the earth. You can then mine that data, be it video, audio, or someone's blog, and digest it and get a feel for what life is like far away from where you are.

We live in an instant gratification age, where everything is sped up and moving at the speed of light. Sometimes, at the speed of thought - and that is what got Tim Hardaway in trouble.

Let me give you an example - you can watch Michael Richard's blowup as a stand-up comic.

His mind-blowing tirade attacking a few jerks in the audience wouldn't be news in of itself save for the fact that he chose to attack them based on the color of their skin. Kramer was angry, and he was letting it be known - and everyone passed judgement on him.

Yet, here we are in another compromising situation - and strangely, it was just a matter of time. John Amaechi came out last week, stating that the former NBA forward himself was gay. This isn't even a marquee player, mind you, but it generated so much buzz over the story, that Amaechi is almost on celebrity status, doing the talk show circuit thing.

That should be a story in of itself - not the fact that Amaechi is gay, but the fact that the American public is so shocked and awed by it. In the year 2007.

What is more stunning is Hardaway's response to the question about playing on a team with gay players. Listen HERE.

Perhaps because we are so quickly inter-connected these days, we just caught Tim Hardaway at a bad moment. Maybe he wasn't thinking clearly about the possibly ramifications of his statement - that surely a media frenzy would be on the horizon. Or maybe that is precisely the point - Hardaway, an old dog loved for his telling-it-straight personality all of a sudden felt the need to use that old reflex, not realizing that times have changed.

The culture of the NBA, moreover that of the professional athlete, is intolerant of homosexuality, as it paints a femine and almost negative picture in the minds of the alpha male, ultra competitive individual whose sole ambition is dominance and performance. If we need a reminder, at least where homosexuality is concerned, we need only to turn to John Rocker, whose comments as a Brave had the entire city of New York in an uproar.

Appropriately, the NBA has served as a barometer for social change, for obvious reasons. This time, however, the color barrier seems to be pushed to the background and the new class up for equality, sexual preference, comes to the front for observation. To pass judgement on Hardaway is to pass rash judgement on ourselves. For in our midst, there are many that feel exactly the same way as Tim Hardaway does. That should not be a shock.

What should be a shock is the medium on which that statement was made, and strangely there is something refreshing about hearing someone speak their mind freely, even if we don't (or shouldn't) agree with it. In this time of political correctness, it is stunning that Tim Hardaway would venture such an attempt. Yet he has. And we are left to see what comes of it.

Strange it just happened to fall on Valentine's Day.