YIKES: NBA Hall of Famer Makes Horrid Joke While Live on Air

Former NBA star and NBA Hall of Fame member Tim Hardaway recently appeared for the Warriors’ “Run TMC” broadcast. It was meant to honor three of the team’s stars from the past: Hardaway, Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond.

During the broadcast, however, Hardaway landed himself in hot water by making a very nasty joke on a live microphone during the game between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs.

Commenting on the game and an excellent steal, Hardaway, instead of just saying that the player did a good job, made a joke about rape.

Watch that here (though you might want to turn the volume down):

What made Tim Hardaway think he could say this on national television? 😳 Smh pic.twitter.com/gqxPqgfOPb

— CLAN the SPURS fan (@ClanTheSpursFan) November 15, 2022

As you can hear in the video, Hardaway, commenting on the steal, said:

Y’all thought that was great D, I thought that was just raping him… I think you should’ve called the police on that.

Hardaway was hit by backlash over the comment/joke near immediately, apologizing for it during the same broadcast.

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

Watch that here:

“Hey everybody, I used a poor choice of words earlier in the broadcast I wanna apologize for that.”

Tim Hardaway apologizes for his use of the word “rape” while covering the Warriors-Spurs game.pic.twitter.com/7LdiUPdfxb

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 15, 2022

This isn’t the first time Hardaway has landed himself in hot water while live on air. He did so in 2007 too, commenting, as a guest on Dan Le Batard’s radio show in 2007, that he was disgusted with the idea of having a gay teammate. In his words

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.

Backing away from that position and apologizing for the comment before his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame, Hardaway said, during an interview with the San Fransisco 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. I was just taught differently. Don’t talk to them, don’t mess with them, leave them alone. I never tried to talk bad about them or do hateful stuff. I was just my upbringing in church.

“But I’ll tell you this: 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.

Hardaway played in the NBA from 1989-2003 for the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers.

He was the 14th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft and was a five-time All-star.

So Hardaway likely isn’t going to be let near a microphone anytime soon, particularly now that the gay thing has been dredged up.