NBA Hall of Fame member Tim Hardaway spoke his way into hot water yesterday on a live microphone at the game between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs.
Hardaway, who is no stranger to controversy, compared a Draymond Green steal to rape by saying this while calling the game.
What made Tim Hardaway think he could say this on national television?
Smh pic.twitter.com/gqxPqgfOPb
— CLAN the SPURS fan
(@ClanTheSpursFan) November 15, 2022
Y’all thought that was great D, I thought that was just raping him… I think you should’ve called the police on that.
It didn’t take long for this lapse of judgment to make its way onto the internet where it was laughed at by some but drew ire from others in the basketball community.
The backlash came so fast that Hardaway made this apology during the same broadcast, in a clip shared by ClutchPoints.
“Hey everybody, I used a poor choice of words earlier in the broadcast I wanna apologize for that.”
Tim Hardaway apologizes for his use of the word “rape” while covering the Warriors-Spurs game.pic.twitter.com/7LdiUPdfxb
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 15, 2022
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Hey everybody, I used a poor choice of words in the broadcast and I apologize for that and, you know, let’s get back to the game. Let’s finish this game off with a 30-point win and go home happy.
This, also, isn’t the first time that Hardaway has had some major explaining to do after saying something dumb into a microphone.
As a guest on Dan Le Batard’s radio show in 2007, shared by ESPN, Hardaway took aim at the gay community and shared his disgust with the idea of having a homosexual teammate by saying,
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. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.
This comment has stuck with Hardaway as it served as a dark spot on what should have been a great basketball legacy,
Hardaway was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September, and he made sure the preempt that with an apology for that comment in 2007, in an interview with the San Fransisco Chronicle.
I grew up in a church, and that’s the way churches were – they instilled in you that (homosexuality) wasn’t the way you should be. I was just taught differently. Don’t talk to them, don’t mess with them, leave them alone. I never tried to talk bad about them or do hateful stuff. I was just my upbringing in church. But I’ll tell you this: it was so wrong of me, and people have suffered. I had to grow up and really do some soul-searching. What I said was just hurtful.
While this is not his first apology on the matter, it seems to be the one that has most resonated with the basketball world, and it has reopened many doors for him.
Although, he may have shut those same doors with his comment last night.
Hardaway played in the NBA from 1989-2003 for the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers.
He was the 14th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft and was a five-time All-star.
By: Goose