A month ago Wednesday, Tim Hardaway uttered the toxic comments that created a firestorm and won’t soon be forgotten.

Twice a day, the former Heat All-Star still asks himself: Why did I answer Dan Le Batard’s question on 790 The Ticket about how I would deal with a gay teammate? And why did I say, “I hate gay people”?

“People have been trying to kick me when I’m down,” he said this week, reflecting on everything that has happened. The reaction was “very, very shocking. People saying my wife left me – that’s not true. My family is OK, and my finances are OK.

“… I’m looking for a second chance and trying to clean up my image. I haven’t been in trouble with drugs or guns. I’m an upstanding citizen. Like I told my children, life is not easy. This is a big bump I have to overcome. I’m going to deal with it like a champ. I’ve got to make sure people know I don’t hate gay people.”

Hardaway, who attended a Heat game last week, said he soon will speak with a gay organization (he’s considering three) to “make them understand” why he made his comments – which he apologized for – and to gain a better understanding of their perspective. He rejected an offer to spend a day with North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns, who is gay, “because that was more for publicity for him.”

Nor has he spoken to John Amaechi, whose disclosure that he’s gay prompted Le Batard’s question to Hardaway: “I wasn’t interested in what he had to say about my comments. I’m not interested in trying to sell his book.”

Nor does Hardaway see a need for sensitivity training: “Why should I go to that? I’d rather go straight to a gay organization.”

He also wants to be welcomed again in NBA circles and emerged hopeful after meeting recently with commissioner David Stern in New York. Stern, who removed Hardaway from league activities during All-Star weekend, was “upset” with his anti-gay comments and made no promises, but the meeting was “encouraging and very positive,” Hardaway said. (Stern declined to comment.)

Hardaway eventually wants to “be an assistant coach, do scouting” or another job for an NBA team, though that seems difficult to envision at the moment. He hopes the Heat will retire his jersey, and Pat Riley said Tuesday “down the road, one day, his jersey probably will be hanging from here, as will” Alonzo Mourning’s.

“We are a country and city that forgives,” Riley said. “I’m going to reach out to him, but he’s got to admit if there’s a problem, he’s got to fix it… I think people who know Tim know he’s a good person.”

Of all the fallout, the impact on his business dealings – including losing a BaldGuyz sponsorship – “hurt the most,” Hardaway said. He has retained an ownership stake in a local car wash – which no longer bears his name on the sign – and a local chicken wings restaurant, but said “people are not coming as frequently” since his radio comments.

Still, “people – even gay people – have approached me and said, ‘Everybody makes mistakes.'” And several former teammates, including Mourning, offered “encouragement. Zo is there for me. He’s like a brother.”

But he received some hate mail: “They should be man or woman enough to have a conversation with me. I’m not a violent person.”