More on crime and punishment, NBA style

Many of you have, no doubt, by now heard about John Amaechi, the former NBA player who came out of the closet post-retirement. You've probably also heard about Tim Hardaway, the former NBA allstar, and his homophobic and hateful rant on a south Florida radio show. Now, the league has suspended Hardaway from the NBA Allstar Game, and rightfully so.

King Kaufman on Salon.com wrote a great piece on the issues around this just before Hardaway's rant. I feel the need to talk about it a little more now, with Hardaway's comments, and BS apology out there.

I can sum it up with one sentence, a question: What if Hardaway was a white player talking about blacks instead of gays?

The league's commissioner David Stern needs to take a stand here and now, as do the heads of the NFL, NHL and major league baseball. They need to address TRUE diversity NOW. Not later and not half-heartedly. If sports figures can't at least behave like human beings all the time (see any number of arrests this year) they can at least speak like them in public and treat their diverse teammates with respect.