Straight from the horse’s ass - er, I mean mouth

Published February 23rd, 2007

In America, you have the right to defend yourself. Judgement should not be passed until your side is told. Well, I read Tim Hardaway’s side, straight from his mouth - and you know what?

I pass judgement. He’s still a jerk. Let’s take a little look at this -

I’ve known you nearly all of our lives and I know there’s no filter with you. You’ve always taken pride in being unapologetically and almost brutally honest. But there’s a difference between being honest and being smart. I think you picked the wrong time to be honest and you took the wrong road.

Yeah, I took the wrong road. I should have been smart about what I was saying and how I expressed my feelings because I offended a lot of folks. And not knowing the magnitude on how this all escalated. I mean, I offended my family, my friends, the NBA, the gay community, people I don’t know, the [Miami] Heat organization. I realize that I offended a lot of people and caused a lot of friction on a touchy subject. And now it’s my job to make it right.

OK what? You should have been smart about expressing hateful feelings? Meaning what - only expressing them where the media won’t notice, so that you can go on being a bigot? OK, if that’s what smart means….

But still you have issues with gays?

I still don’t accept their lifestyle. No.

And you stand on that?

Yes. You know, we were brought up to not even condone or associate yourself with a gay person. If you knew of a gay person, disassociate yourself with them.

Wow, gave up on that “smart” thing pretty fast. Back to being an unabashed bigot. Just didn’t use the word “hate” this time.

But Tim, you’ve been in Miami for years now and there is a strong and public gay community there. How have you still held on to that same mentality while living in Miami all of these years?

I just get away from it. I just walk away. I see it, I just go the other way, cross the street.

So at no point did you ever try to understand their lifestyle or way of life?

No. Never did. Never wanted to.

Do you want to now?

No. I don’t want to … try to find some type of understanding of why they live the way they live or why they are the way they are. Maybe I could go to therapy, maybe someone can help me out with understanding [them], the sensitivity of the issue. But as a person, my beliefs are my beliefs. I don’t have to condone it and I don’t have to be around it. But I don’t have to hate it either.

Well that pretty much speaks for itself, no? He’s literally terrified of homosexuality. He is a homophobe in the most literal sense. So let me get this straight Tim - you don’t condone it, you don’t approve, you don’t understand, you don’t want to understand and you do your best to avoid it - but you don’t hate it. One question - how do you act towards people you do hate?

When we was growing up Scoop, if we saw gay people or whatever, we ran across the street. We got away from them. Our parents, our friends, our families knew that that wasn’t right. We didn’t want to be around that and they definitely didn’t want us kids around it. And it’s not that they hated gay people, they just felt they it wasn’t right. Let them do what they want to do. And that was my experience when I was growing up. Not acknowledging them. Now did something happen to me? No. But I did have a friend that something happened to him in a Catholic school, but that is another can of worms that it’s not my place to open because it’s not my life. But to answer your question, “No.” Nothing happened to me. I just don’t condone [being gay]. When I see gay people holding hands or kissing in the streets, I just don’t think that’s right.

Is there some religious factor behind your thinking or is this just your belief?

Just my belief.

First off - pedophilia is not homosexuality. Child abuse is not homosexuality. But hey, at least you don’t hate gays for religious reasons - you just hate them for no reason at all. Wait, you don’t hate, that’s right. You just disapprove and want to avoid them for no reason at all. Got it.

I have a friend who was on a team with a gay person and that person was his roommate and his teammate came out of the closet after they had been roommates. And my friend told me that he’s the one who felt violated. He told me that he hates him now. He said if the dude had come to him before and told him this, maybe it could have been worked out, easier to accept. It’s a trust issue. They were on the same team and roommates for four years and then two or three years after he left he came out and said, “Hey, I’m gay. I’m bisexual.” I don’t know how to even deal with that.

OK, so let’s say one of our boys, or better yet for the sake of this interview, what if I told you that I was gay. We’ve known each other all of our lives, came up together, we boys and all, and out of nowhere I spring that on you. Told you that the wife and kids were all a facade and that all of this time I’ve been gay. How would you accept that? Or would you? Would you end the friendship?

Wow. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Wow. I’d probably be or say something like, “Me and Scoop was tight until he told me this.” Our friendship may not continue to be as tight as it is but I’d let you know that you could call me, talk to me whenever, something like that. I really wouldn’t know how to react to that.

But would you be more mad at the fact that I violated a trust issue because I never told you or that I was gay?

Trust issue. I trusted you. We talked like boys for years and you had plenty of opportunity to tell me something like this. It’s always a trust issue. It wouldn’t be because you were gay or bisexual. My issue with you would be because of trust, because you never told me.

So wait - your friend. He hates this person who came out to him, because they lied about it, but if they had come out in the first place, it all could have been worked out? Barring the possibility that this young man was so confused that he wasn’t sure in the first place, why would he come out to a person who probably telegraphed all over the place that he hates gays? Second, a trust issue? Good lord man - if it was really a trust issue, you wouldn’t have all those other hateful feelings. And if a longtime friend came out to you, you’d be so upset by this that you couldn’t be a close friend anymore? How magnanimous of you to allow them to like, talk to you, or whatever. Gee whiz, what a guy. “He hates me, but I’ll talk to him because he’ll tolerate my presence without feeling ill.” Ever think that maybe someone wouldn’t want to talk to you if you ended a close friendship over some stupid selfish hateful feelings? And you don’t know how you’d deal with that situation. Well, you gave a pretty nice scenario right there Tim. Imagine how hard it would be for someone coming out to you to deal with the situation.

I want both. I want forgiveness and I want to get my s— together.

And that entails …

Right now, learning. Learning that gay people are really no different than a lot of other people. Learning that they work hard, they do things in the community, they are responsible for building parks, rec centers, providing safe environments for kids, just things I had never associated with them before. [This last week] has opened up my eyes to the gay population and what they do. I’m getting a lot of knowledge about them that I didn’t have. Which is going to make me a better person. And if it doesn’t, then I’m a damn fool.

Well hey! That’ s a good start! They are no different than other people! They do work hard! They do good things! They do provide safe environments for kids! You never associated them with that before? What the hell did you think they did with their lives? Wait, don’t answer that. So yeah, learning, understanding (even though you said you don’t want to understand them) is good, and hopefully you won’t end up a damn fool.

But you still don’t accept their lifestyle?

No. I’m opening myself up to get a better understanding of who they are, but I still don’t condone what they do. I don’t want to be a part of it and I still don’t want to be around it.

Oh. Well. So much for that. Threw all that stuff out the window, eh?

Tim Hardaway, you are a bad person who needs to really undergo some self-examination. People hate you for no good reason too - the color of your skin - and that definitely is not OK. Replace “gay” with “African-American” in many of your statements and see if you like it. “I don’t condone African-Americans in this country. I don’t want to be around them. I cross the street when I see them. I don’t understand them and I don’t want to.” Yeah.

Nice guy, that Tim Hardaway. Not an ounce of hate in his body.

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