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NBA legend Tim Hardaway jokes about rape on live TV–has he learned nothing from his homophobic past?

By · Updated on December 5, 2022

The Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 132-95 Monday night, but the blowout was overshadowed by former Warriors star Tim Hardaway’s extremely poor choice of words from the announcer’s box.

Hardaway was calling the game as part of a special, one-night event with his former teammates, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond. During the second quarter of the NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast, Hardaway was discussing the Warriors’ defense when he said:

“So y’all thought that was great D? I thought that was just raping him. I think they should call the police on that.”

Related: Pro rugby player’s defense of homophobic teammates is a major fumble

He addressed the comment later on in the game and apologized.

“I used a poor choice of words earlier in the broadcast,” Hardaway said. “I want to apologize for that. Let’s get back to the game, and let’s finish this game off with a 30-point win and go home happy.”

If anyone should be extra aware of what they say into a microphone, it’s Hardaway.

In 2007, when he was fresh off his NBA playing career, he offered his hot take on the news that John Amaechi had become the first former NBA player to come out as gay:

“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…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’s right. And you know I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we’re in the locker room. I wouldn’t even be a part of that.”

Related: Tim Hardaway believes saying “I hate gay people” cost him his place in the NBA Hall of Fame

Hardaway has spent years apologizing for the comments and rehabilitating his image, and we certainly hope the work he did with The Trevor Project and The YES Institute and the conversations he had with members of the LGBTQ community helped him evolve in his views.

In September of this year, when the Basketball Hall of Fame finally inducted him, he told the SF 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… 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.”

Ameachi told Sports Illustrated earlier this year that Hardaway has never reached out to apologize directly.

Hardaway’s recent rape joke also isn’t the first time an announcer has found themselves in hot water while calling a game.

In 2020, the Cincinnati Reds pulled baseball broadcaster Thom Brennaman from a game after he used a homophobic slur during a hot mic moment.

Just after a commercial break, when Brennaman thought his microphone was turned off, he could be heard referring to somewhere as “one of the f*g capitals of the world.”

Of course, not all noteworthy sports broadcasting moments require apologies.

We’ll leave you on a lighter note, when some innocent football analysis during a matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Cincinnati Bengals took a decidedly gay (and steamy) direction:

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