John Amaechi and the NBA’s PR nightmare.

Yes, there have been intelligent responses to the John-Amaechi-is-gay story. Grant Hill was one of the few active players who sounded remotely open-minded, saying: “The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring.“

Doc Rivers, ABC analyst and former coach of the Boston Celtics, was very realistic in his view of the situation.

“We?re all insensitive at times … There?s no taboo subject in the locker room. I think if he would have come out, they would have got on him jokingly. They would have held no punches and they would have made fun of him just like they make fun of guys here. … But that?s the locker room, and that?s not going to change. And I actually think that when guys do come out, when that day happens, it will make it easier. I can?t wait until it?s not an issue.“

Star Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was also diplomatic:

“If he was on my team, I guess I would have to protect him from the outsiders … I?m not homophobic or anything. … I?m not the type who judges people. I wish him well.“

But any intelligent response is drowned out by the cacophony of idiocy that has come from several young players in the league.

Despite the fact that he has shifted so far to the right that he even hired Matthew Dowd to help with PR, NBA Commissioner David Stern is still one of the most liberal commissioners in sports. And even if he wasn’t a liberal commissioner, one would imagine that having his players come off as morons to half of the population isn’t necessarily what he would like to achieve.

Yes, Tim Hardaway will be a hero to a select portion of the population — the same group who likely applauded Michael Richards for not being politically correct when he shouted “nigger” 20,000 times. But that part of the population certainly isn’t going to carry the NBA — and likely isn’t watching NBA games anyway.

Like the NFL, the last thing the NBA needs is to appear to take sides on cross-cutting, hot button issues. No sports league, or any major corporation for that matter, needs to alienate any potential consumers. No sports league needs its All Star Game overrun by political controversy. And no sports league needs some of its players coming off as unenlightened fools.

For a long time, the NBA has skated by the controversies that plague other sports. The NFL was the perceived leader in homophobia prior to the Amaechi revelation, while Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League are dealing with an almost complete absence of African American players. The NBA, for all its perceived flaws and all the lashings it takes from the media, has at the very least been viewed as the most progressive of all the four major sports. Just recently, the league virtually turned its nose up at the NFL; while the big story at Super Bowl XLI was that two black coaches were facing each other for the first time, the NBA could brag that it had two black coaches facing each other back in 1975.

Now, the NBA is looking anything but progressive. LeBron James’ immature comments pale in comparison to the vitriol of Tim Hardaway, and won’t have any real lasting effect on his career and marketability. However, lesser lights, like Shavlik Randolph and Steven Hunter, will likely be remembered more for their comments than for their NBDL-level playing careers.

But no matter what, the next time a player comes out, nobody can dare to make the comments Charles Barkley made last week on TNT.

“I don?t care if guys are gay or not, only God can judge people. I know that sounds simple, but I don?t care if guys are gay. I just think it?s funny when I hear these ?experts? and jackasses talk about how the other players wouldn?t stand for it and that he wouldn?t be accepted in the locker room. Kenny knows, and I know, we have played with gay guys before. It never comes up. It?s not our business. We don?t care.“