Gay pro basketball player wins league championship and celebrates with a Pride flag
Sebastian Vega is a title winner again with Boca Juniors. He wants other gay men in basketball to know “it’s possible.” The post Gay pro basketball player wins league championship and celebrates with a Pride flag appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
It’s already being described as an iconic image in the history of basketball in Argentina, but Sebastian Vega wants his Pride flag celebration to be seen around the world.
After Boca Juniors beat Instituto, 78-77, in a thrilling seventh game of the final series in the national league (LNB), Vega was pictured sitting on the hoop in the arena, raising the rainbow flag behind him, with the net around his neck.
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Vega came out publicly as gay in March 2020 and was received with love by his teammates at Gimnasia, who he was playing for at the time.
In his early 20s, Vega had spent a season with Boca, one of the country’s most successful teams over the last few seasons. In 2023, he signed with them again and has now contributed to back-to-back league championships.
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After turning in an impressive individual 14-point performance (eight rebounds, four assists and two steals) in the final game, Vega told reporters in Buenos Aires: “It’s a message of self-improvement: everyone can be who they want and achieve their goals.”
The LNB’s official Instagram account collaborated on the celebration pic, captioned simply “Pride” with a trophy emoji.
Other out gay and bi athletes from South America, including Argentina field hockey Olympian Nico Keenan and Chilean basketball pro Daniel Arcos, sent supportive comments.
In recent weeks, Vega has been targeted with homophobia as the contest with Instituto intensified, but he takes it in stride.
“I’m strong, I can handle it,” he said. “The ones who suffer the most are my family.”
However, he added: “The most beautiful thing is that when I raised the flag, all the Boca fans applauded me and were very proud. I think that image will be indelible in my life. I’m excited and happy.”
[DEPORTES] Con la bandera del orgullo, "Seba" Vega, estrella de Boca, festejó la obtención de la Liga Nacional de Básquet.
@catalinasarra https://t.co/j5YJgZJSwZ pic.twitter.com/2QXPw2Yizu— ElCanciller.com (@elcancillercom) July 21, 2025
Teammates make him feel comfortable, Sebastian Vega says
Vega was 31 when he came out publicly, via a letter posted on his social media accounts.
He was already out to friends and family. But he found that compartmentalizing his life, keeping sports strictly separate from anything connected to his sexuality, was mentally draining.
In an interview with ESPN the following year, he said: “I felt neither free nor calm… I was harming myself, and I didn’t see why I had to hide things. I didn’t find any sense in it.
“I knew that the basketball environment is pretty macho, and I felt that me not doing anything, being in a place where I could contribute a lot, I was contributing to that [stigma]. I wasn’t doing my part to help to change the situation.”
He also mentioned how he had searched online to read about other male athletes in his sport who had been on a similar journey, and found very few examples.
“Being the first out gay male basketball player [in Argentina] has transformed me into that role model I was looking for,” he added.
In a Q&A for the website of Argentina’s basketball federation, he also revealed how Arcos had reached out to him for advice before coming out as gay himself in June 2020.
Vega is now a four-time national league champion (he also won the title with Penarol in 2010 and with Quimsa in 2015) and recently passed the 6,000-point milestone in the LNB.
Vega’s decision to climb the hoop and raise the Pride flag after victory was even more notable when you consider the final and post-match partying were being televised nationwide.
He told reporters: “I’m very grateful because my teammates always let me be, and that made me feel very comfortable on the court.”
Jason Collins remains the only player to have been out as gay while active in the NBA. He came out publicly in 2013 and joined the Brooklyn Nets during the following season, before retiring at the end of 2014. While an active free agent, Dwight Howard talked about pursuing men and having sex with them.
John Amaechi and Isaac Humphries (still playing pro basketball in Australia’s NBL with the Adelaide 36ers) both came out publicly after playing in the NBA.
Amaechi made nearly 300 NBA appearances for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz, while Humphries had a brief stint with the Atlanta Hawks in 2019, playing in five games.
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The post Gay pro basketball player wins league championship and celebrates with a Pride flag appeared first on Outsports.
