Controversy
During a February 14, 2007 interview on Miami's The Dan Le Batard Show, in response to the coming out of former NBA player John Amaechi, Hardaway remarked that he would try to distance himself from a player he knew was homosexual. When asked by the radio show host whether he realized that his remarks were homophobic, Hardaway responded by saying: "Well, 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." He also said that if he found out he had one or more gay teammates, he would try to get them fired.
Later in the day, Hardaway apologized for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox affiliate WSVN in Miami. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that." He further apologized on February 15 in a statement released by his agent.
On the same day, the NBA responded to Hardaway's comments by removing him from its All-Star Weekend activities later that week. His employer, Trinity Sports, owner of the Anderson-based CBA Indiana Alley Cats, dismissed him from his position as Chief Basketball Operations Advisor, and the CBA issued a statement distancing itself from Hardaway's remarks.
In a September 2007 interview, Hardaway spoke about his February comments, saying he "had no idea how much I hurt people. A lot of people." He described the controversy as "the biggest bump [in the road] in my life", and added, "I'm going to do whatever I can to correct it. That's all I can do."
In an interview on February 11, 2010, on Hardcore Sports Radio on Sirius, Hardaway spoke about his recent work with The Trevor Project and The YES Institute, which he had done to educate himself on LGBT issues.
In April 2013, when Jason Collins came out as the first active openly gay male player in a major American professional team sport, Collins said that Hardaway called him in support of his homosexuality. In July 2013, Hardaway was the symbolic first signer of a petition to put a proposed amendment to the Florida State Constitution overturning Florida Amendment 2 and allowing same-sex marriage in his home state of Florida on the ballot in 2014.
