Last week, I wrote about gay former NBA player John Amaechi whose book about being a closeted NBA player came out yesterday. I also wrote about how the young players in the NBA reacted to Amaechi's outing himself, which for the most part consisted of the typical, "as long as he don't touch me" routine. Well surely the elder statesmen of the NBA would show more perspective, more discretion and more tolerance than the NBA's raw new school. Or maybe not. Here's what former 5-time NBA all-star Tim Hardaway had to say Wednesday to a Miami radio station about having a gay player as a teammate:

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'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States... 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... Something has to give.

Jesus. What the hell is wrong with these guys? You'd think, at the very least, these dudes would have publicists around them telling them when to shut the fuck up. And like the idiot Tim Hardaway revealed he is, he called a Miami TV station a couple hours later to apologize. He said, "Yes, I regret it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said I hate gay people or anything like that. That was my mistake." I guess his publicist woke up or something.