I’ve spent about a week now talking about Tim Hardaway at the FanHouse, and on Deadspin. He said he hates guys who are down with the dong, and I really put a lot of time and effort into slamming him for it. I got carried away. If you missed any of it, here’s the “Tim Hardaway is an Asshole” anthology, in chronological order.

Tim Hardaway Did Not Spend Valentine’s Day With a Dude
Hardaway Apologizes; Amaechi Appreciates the Honesty
Tim Hardaway Loves to Stay at the YMCA
Tim Hardaway Has Been To a Gay Bar
The Maloof Brothers Wouldn’t Employ a Homophobe
Because This Had To End With Tim Hardaway Being Nude On YouTube
Tim Hardaway’s Gay-Friendly Car Wash

And then I read the second leg of his apology, and I started to feel a little bit bad about it. His second stab at saying he was sorry was much better, and seemed much more sincere. And after a weekend of hearing Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith say Hardaway’s a good guy (though, clearly, Kenny has much left to understand about the gay issue), I should give him another chance. It is possible for someone to say they hate gay people, and still, deep down, be a good guy.

Here was Timmy’s second apology:

“I don’t hate gay people,” Hardaway said. “I’m a goodhearted person. I interact with people all the time. … I respect people. For me to say ‘hate’ was a bad word, and I didn’t mean to use it.”

I buy that. And that should have been the first thing I thought, “Tim Hardaway doesn’t really hate gay people, he just got a little carried away when trying to express that he’s uncomfortable around gay people (which, you know, isn’t good, either… but doesn’t make him a terrible person).” But that wasn’t my reaction, my reaction was, “Let’s go write about what an asshole this guy is.”

I shouldn’t have done that. At least, I probably shouldn’t have done so much of it. Sorry, Tim.

Tim Hardaway is homophobic, Tim Hardaway is ignorant, and Reggie Miller was right when he suggested that Tim Hardaway probably needs some therapy. But I don’t believe he’s got a hateful heart … I don’t think Tim Hardaway sits at home and thinks, “These damn gay people are ruining the world, and I’m going to get them.” I think he’s just never been exposed to a lot of homosexuals, he’s confused and threatened by it, and he threw the word “hate” out there because he didn’t know how else to say it.

I think the NBA is justified in cutting him loose from NBA Cares, I think BaldGuyz is perfectly justified in firing him as an endorser, and I do still believe that Tim Hardaway, at his Grand Luxe Auto Hand Car Wash & Detailing Center should provide every gay customer with a free hand job.

I took part in a bit of a Roundtable discussion about the Iverson trade in the FanHouse last night. It was myself, Bethlehem Soals, Marcel Mutoni, and The Big Lead… no aspect is left uncovered. I think we might do more of this over there. I think you oughta check it out.

Part 1: We Start With The Answer
Part 2: The Next Step for Iverson
Part 3: Veering Towards Philadelphia
Part 4: Were the Sixers Robbed?
Part 5: On Andre Miller
Part 6: The Other Nuggets
Part 7: What This Does to Kevin Garnett
Part 8: The Final Words

Does a guy deserve credit for admitting that he was wrong and then taking bold steps to right the wrong? I’d say no, not if you had to beat him over the head first.

I don’t think the decision to go back to the old leather ball is a case of David Stern listening to his players, I don’t think it’s a case of him making a magnanimous decision … I think it’s a case of him saying to himself, “Well, if the new ball is actually making their hands bleed, and assistant coaches have to wear gloves while throwing passes in practice, I’m going to look like a total prick if I don’t change the ball back.”

I fully expect Steven Jackson to claim that dress shirts chafe his neck and that belts are giving him abdominal cancer, in an effort to get Stern to rescind the dress code, too.

But if the ball wasn’t making hands bleed, I don’t think this decision would’ve ever been made. Stern didn’t care that the players didn’t like it. If that was the only problem, they’d be using this ball until Stern was dead. But actually doing physical damage to players hands, the instruments they use to make a living … that, he couldn’t spin.

So I’m sure there are a few people around the league tonight that are amused that Stern had to put his tail between his legs (and I mean that literally, the man has a tail) and admit that he was wrong … even if he doesn’t believe it himself, which he probably doesn’t. He at least had to say it.

In fact, I bet he’s not done with this. He’s going to go back to Spalding, talk to them about some concerns that players had, and get a 2.0 version of the basketball. And no matter how terrible it is, as long as it doesn’t do physical damage, he’ll stick with it.

Also see: David Stern Unveils Plans To Use New Flaming Basketballs

Via Deadspin, this New York Daily News article goes into some detail about new rules and regulations in the NBA that you might not have heard about. The league actually sent an official to a Knicks/Wizards game the other night to look for players who did any of the following:

– Untucked their shirt after being taken out of the game.

– Wore a rubber band with their name (or anyone else’s) on it.

– Chewed gum during the national anthem.

– Shifted and swayed as they stood in line listening to the national anthem.

But a little later in the article is the following quote, and this is what I find most interesting about the situation:

“The image problem is a subtle way of talking about black ballplayers and how they appear to the populace,” [Players Union boss Billy] Hunter said. “When we had our last round of negotiations, David told me that he was consulting with one of President Bush’s political consultants. The issue was, what they can do to make the game and players more appealing to the red states?”

I don’t know… a return to the days before Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton might help.

But there you go. The quote from Hunter explains quite a bit about David Stern and why he’s doing what he’s doing. We can dance around the issue by saying “image problem,” and “red states,” but the issue is right there. David Stern wants to sell the NBA to people who aren’t entirely comfortable with black people. That’s it.

It’s a complicated issue, and we’re not going to cover all of it. But there are people in the world who are fine with happy, smiling, non-confrontational black people like Wayne Brady… and not fine with other black people who doesn’t seem quite so non-threatening. That’s racism just the same, and David Stern is endorsing it by catering to those people.

And just because I enjoyed it… The Onion, indirectly, on similar issues.