First NBA player to come out as gay says straight guys must find league ‘confusing’ nowadays
John Amaechi isn’t surprised by the ongoing absence of publicly out gay or bi players in men’s pro basketball. The post First NBA player to come out as gay says straight guys must find league ‘confusing’ nowadays appeared first on Outsports.
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John Amaechi made more than 300 appearances in the NBA and retired from professional basketball at the age of 33. Four years later, in 2007, he came out publicly as gay — the first former NBA pro to do so.
Now an eminent psychologist and best-selling author, he says he sometimes makes new connections who are completely unaware that he’s an LGBTQ sports trailblazer.
“But just because there’s some people who don’t know doesn’t mean I’m not out,” Amaechi says as a reminder, on a new episode of the “Conversations with Tyler” podcast.
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Moment #15: Former NBA player John Amaechi comes out
John Amaechi became the first gay NBA player, current or former, to come out publicly, cementing his trailblazer legacy.
The 54-year-old believes we should take a similarly nuanced view of today’s NBA, which is still “very heterosexual” but is by no means impervious to the influence of queer culture.
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For the would-be gatekeepers of men’s team sports, that must be increasingly disconcerting. But for Amaechi, that’s of more interest than the game itself.
The former Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz power forward sat down with host Tyler Cowen for a wide-ranging conversation to tie in with the publication of his new book, “It’s Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders.”
He is also an honorary professor of leadership at the University of Exeter Business School, and still an NBA Ambassador — even if, by his own admission, he never had a great passion for the sport (and would still rather “eat cake and read a book” than watch a game).
@johnamaechiobe I said I would play in the NBA before I even knew what the NBA meant… I guess that’s where I started with the big audacious goals! ♬ original sound – John Amaechi
When Amaechi came out 18 years ago via an ESPN interview, there was widespread interest and a huge response. The vast majority of that was supportive, but not all — particularly Tim Hardaway’s anti-gay comments on a radio show.
The former Miami Heat guard apologized for his words a week later, but by then a wave of emails had already been sent to Amaechi from people who agreed with Hardaway.
In a way, his homophobia had exposed the real issue. “These are the loud comments that pollute the air,” said Amaechi at the time, citing the impact on young LGBTQ people in schools.
Since that moment, Jason Collins has come out in the NBA and continued to play in the league, while Isaac Humphries — who had a brief spell in the Atlanta Hawks — has shared his story in his native Australia. But no other men with NBA court experience have said publicly that they are gay or bi.
Amaechi says there is still pressure exerted on the league environment from straight men — whether fans, owners, the media and others — on “making sure that everybody there is appropriately heterosexual.”
He adds: “It must be confusing for them now because the league is still very heterosexual, but fashion and other things mean that the league slips in its queerness every once in a while.”
Asked why he, Collins and Humphries are still the only NBA players to have ever come out, Amaechi says: “Because the consequences of being queer in American society are still profound.
“They’re profound in a small town in Texas, and they’re profound if you’re on national television and half the sponsors of your team and certainly the owners are homophobic.
“So, there’s really practical reasons not to be out in America, in a country that seems to want queer people to go the way of the dodo.”
Although he now moves in circles of academia and consultancy, the NBA Ambassador role is still important to Amaechi. He says he respects the game for its “evolution” most of all.
He’s not overly concerned by the absence of visible gay representation in the league, as that’s an evolution as well.
“I’m in an interesting position now where I’m at once incredibly well known to be gay by certain people, but there’s a whole generation of people who’ve no idea of it, and there’s a whole context with my work who don’t necessarily know either,” he explains.
But that doesn’t make him any less out.
“I have a partner, we go out, and so it’s a known thing. There are players right now who are out in the same way I am.
“Some of their colleagues, some of their teammates, some of their administrative staff, and some of their friends and some of their family will know that they’re gay, but they simply haven’t announced it on the Jumbotron.”
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The post First NBA player to come out as gay says straight guys must find league ‘confusing’ nowadays appeared first on Outsports.
