result #112368 - ARE TIM HARDAWAY'S COMMENTS WORTHY OF A LAS VEGAS BAN?

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result #112368 - ARE TIM HARDAWAY'S COMMENTS WORTHY OF A LAS VEGAS BAN?

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ARE TIM HARDAWAY'S COMMENTS WORTHY OF A LAS VEGAS BAN?

[+] serious ballot by Barbara_Baby_Cakes
created Thu Feb 15, 07

The NBA banished Tim Hardaway from All-Star weekend in Las Vegas because of his anti-gay remarks.

Hardaway, who played in five All-Star games during the 1990s, was already in Las Vegas and scheduled to make a series of public appearances this week on behalf of the league. But after saying, "I hate gay people" during a radio interview, commissioner David Stern stepped in.

"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," Stern said in a statement Thursday.

Hardaway's comments — for which he later apologized — came a week after John Amaechi became the first former NBA player to say he was gay.

On a Miami radio show Wednesday, Hardaway was asked how he would interact with a gay teammate.

"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team," the former Miami Heat star said. "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."

When show host Dan Le Batard told Hardaway those comments were "flatly homophobic" and "bigotry," the player continued.

"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. "I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

Hardaway also said if he did find out that a teammate was gay, 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."

Later that night, Hardaway apologized during a telephone interview with WSVN-TV 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."

Two major gay and lesbian groups denounced Hardaway's remarks.

"Hardaway's comments are vile, repulsive, and indicative of the climate of ignorance, hostility and prejudice that continues to pervade sports culture," said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "And by apologizing not for his bigotry, but rather for giving voice to it, he's reminding us that this ugly display is only the tip of a very large iceberg."

Said Matt Foreman, president of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force: "Hardaway is a hero to thousands of young people. And that's what makes his comments so troubling. Sadly, his words simply put the pervasive homophobia in the NBA on the table."

Amaechi, who detailed his life in his recent autobiography "Man in the Middle," hoped his coming out would be a catalyst for intelligent discourse.

"His words pollute the atmosphere," Amaechi said. "It creates an atmosphere that allows young gays and lesbians to be harassed in school, creates an atmosphere where in 33 states you can lose your job, and where anti-gay and lesbian issues are used for political gain. It's an atmosphere that hurts all of us, not just gay people."

What say you all, are Hardaway's comments worthy of a Las Vegas ban? Yes/No, Why/Why Not?

Yes, his comments is worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...	12
No, his comments is not worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...	7
Here are my thoughts...	3

Ballot #112368: has 22 total votes.
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COMMENTS:
What if he'd said: "Well, you know, I hate Jews, so, um, let it be known, I don't like Jews. I don't like to be around Jews. You know, I'm anti-Semitic."

There wouldn't be any debate about Hardaway speaking "on behalf" of the NBA.

by cranky on Thu Feb 15, 07 8:17pm [+]

Voted : Yes, his comments is worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...
Definition of "stupid human being"- a man, born into a world where he is hated by a segment of the populace solely because of the accident of his genetic heritage, hating another for exactly the same reason.

by Truthseeker013 on Thu Feb 15, 07 8:27pm [+]

Voted : Here are my thoughts...
His comments were offensive and he's obviously a bigot, but he has the right to say whatever he wants to say - no matter how stupid it may be. So a ban is not in order, he'll get enough flack in other ways.

by Kiki on Thu Feb 15, 07 10:31pm [+]

Voted : Yes, his comments is worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...
No different than someone saying "I hate blacks". Its bigotry plain and simple.

by FiddleFaddleOnLSD on Thu Feb 15, 07 10:38pm [+]

Voted : No, his comments is not worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...
^ I agree with kiki. The mans entitled to his views, no matter how offensive they are.

by winston on Thu Feb 15, 07 10:38pm [+]

Voted : Yes, his comments is worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...
I right to freedom of speech doesn't mean a right to represent an all star NBA event.

by skylab on Thu Feb 15, 07 11:16pm [+]

Voted : Yes, his comments is worthy of his ban from Las Vegas...
^ True.

If I was on his team or from his state, he would be the last person I would want representing me.

by Grumpy_Person on Fri Feb 16, 07 1:50am [+]

I wonder how long a famous white sportsman would last in the game if he said that, of course i am not knocking him - all he did was voice his own feelings.

by SmoothDiamond on Sat Feb 17, 07 9:03am [+]

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