the nba star who said "i hate gay people" in 2007 says he taught america not to be a bigot. he would also like a bank commercial.

via the Crossover Podcast and Basketball Network, with 2007 reporting from the AP and the Philadelphia Inquirer

"I was shameful."

That is Tim Hardaway, the former NBA star, on the Crossover Podcast he co-hosts with Lindsey Hunter, in an episode posted Oct. 7. He was talking about the thing he will be talking about for the rest of his life.

In February 2007, a week after the former NBA center John Amaechi came out, Hardaway went on Dan Le Batard's radio show in Miami and was asked about having a gay teammate. "You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known," he said, per the AP. "I'm homophobic." David Stern pulled him from that year's All-Star appearances, the Inquirer reported. Amaechi's reply at the time: "I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem."

what hardaway said this week

The episode is billed as Hardaway's response to the former NBA player Kenyon Martin, and he said Martin "came at me personally" over the 2007 remarks. "Back when I was 41 years old, I would have said something differently," he said in the show's own clip. "But I grew." He said he helped people "understand that what I said was bad," and that the lesson was "don't be a bigot," lines Basketball Network also printed.

He then tried to say "LGBTQ," did not manage it, and joked to his co-host that he had never said anything with so many letters in it. Nearly two decades later, the acronym is still winning.

The rest was about cost. "People was pointing at me and talking about me," he said, and he is "still feeling the effects of it." He told Hunter he thinks he has a great personality and should be in commercials for the big banks, and that when he goes to them, they look back at 2007.

the record he wants counted

The growth part is real, and it is documented. In 2011 he campaigned against an El Paso recall vote over domestic partner benefits and told The Advocate, "I opened my eyes and went to counseling," which Sports Illustrated also covered. In 2013 he was the first person to sign a Florida petition for marriage equality, per the Miami New Times and theGrio.

So: a man said something hateful, did the work, and has receipts. He also wants a Wells Fargo deal, which is between him and Wells Fargo. What he does not get to decide is how long other people remember a sentence that famous. He said it on the radio. The rest of us just kept the tape.

The NBA's openly gay players, for the record, still fit on one page.