Retired NBA basketbeller Tim Hardaway said on Wednesday that he hates gay people, but later said he regretted the remarks, reported CBS News. "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people," he said while a guest on a talk radio show. "I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States." The host asked Hardaway how he would interact with a gay 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 is right. I don't think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room." If he did find out that a teammate was gay, Hardaway said he would ask for the player to be removed from the team. "Something has to give," Hardaway said. "If you have 12 other ballplayers in your locker room that's upset and can't concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court or whatever, it's going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate." The discussion was sparked by last week's announcement that retired NBA center John Amaechi is gay. Amaechi said Hardaway's anti-gay comments "demonstrate the need to continue the conversation." "I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem,'" Amaechi told The Associated Press on Thursday. "People said that I should just shut up and go away — now they have to rethink that." Hardaway later apologised for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox News in Miami. "Yes, I regret it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that," he said. "That was my mistake." Hardaway reportedly has been removed from further league-related appearances. "It is inappropriate for him to be representing us, given the disparity between his views and ours," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement to a South Florida newspaper. Ref: CBS News (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 16th February 2007 - 12:00pm