12/21/24
September 27, 2007
Tim Hardaway is making progress: "I'm not really trying to make amends. I've been there trying to get help." No word on how George Takei feels about all this.
Yeah, respect. I can imagine that a lot of sports people wouldn't have the courage to change.
posted by owlhouse at 04:55 AM on September 28, 2007
FINALLY a good story about an athlete that took responsability for his actions and did the right thing. I'm most impressed that he just didn't get in front of a podium and read from some sheet of paper how sorry he was and that he was wrong or he found god. something of that nature. He should be commended for actually realizing he hurt alot of people and not only asking for their forgiveness but for actually going and educating himself and mending bridges with people in the community. unfortunately there are to many athletes that would have worried about being ridiculed by their peers, they would have done the whole fake speech thing and went along with their business. Tim Hardaway was never one of my favorite players, but I have a new respect for him as a "man". Hopefully he gets an oppurtunity to continue into coaching in the NBA, we still need men like him to be role models to the kids of the future.
posted by bigpoppav at 06:01 AM on September 28, 2007
Good for Hardaway. Classic example of someone that realized they needed to be educated on a certain subject and sought out the help that was necessary in order for him to help instead of destroy someone's character because of their sexual orientation. Talk about 'killer crossover', Hardaway crossed over to being a true role model for people of all ages.
posted by BornIcon at 06:29 AM on September 28, 2007
Pardon me while I piss in the punch bowl, but I'm pretty sure this is the key part of this story... NBA commissioner David Stern met with Hardaway about a week after asking him to leave the league's All-Star festivities. He is aware of the changes Hardaway is trying to make. "We appreciate Tim's efforts at education and promoting understanding," Stern said Thursday. Hardaway wants to get back into the NBA some day as a coach or personnel director, yet readily acknowledges that he did those plans a major disservice with his comments. Over time, he hopes that'll change. It's a safe bet he wouldn't be taking this step if he didn't receive the reaction he did. However, I will say that it's certainly progress that people like him are being forced to at least consider the possibility that gay, bi-, and transgendered people deserve the same rights and respect as everyone else.
posted by Scott Carefoot at 12:24 PM on September 28, 2007
It's a safe bet he wouldn't be taking this step if he didn't receive the reaction he did. If he didn't get the reaction he did, then he wouldn't have known how hurtful his comments were. I trust that the people at the YES Institute can tell the difference between an opportunist and someone who is geniunely interested in learning.
posted by bperk at 01:09 PM on September 28, 2007
It's a safe bet he wouldn't be taking this step if he didn't receive the reaction he did. I think it's safe to say he wouldn't have taken the first step without the reaction he got. After the first step, though, I'm not so sure. I did kind of get the sense, reading between the lines, that he really did get his eyes opened somehow. Perhaps someone that he knows and loves came to him and said, "Dude, I'm gay. I'm one of them. When you say you hate gays, that's me you're hating." Perhaps he heard some stories that really horrified him, spending time with a group that tries to reduce the suicide risk for gay/trans youth. Maybe he learned, from someone on the other side, what it feels like to be hated. Being confronted with that reality is what makes you have to choose whether you're going to act like a human being or not. Hating, truly hating, diminishes your own humanity, and when most people get that in their face, they really will choose not to hate.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:17 PM on September 28, 2007
I thought it was impressive that Hardaway has refused interviews in order to not look like "his work with advocacy groups seem like a publicity stunt or a quick-fix to an image problem." The people at YES seem to be in the best position to make an honest assessment of his progress and they seem to be convinced. So I am too. Good on Tim.
posted by scully at 07:52 PM on September 28, 2007
Well, that's a better outcome than I would have ever expected. Good on him.