Longtime gay sports fan and athlete finds a home and career in the NBA
Tim Hammond has been contributing to the NBA for years after wondering of sports were a place an out man could flourish. The post Longtime gay sports fan and athlete finds a home and career in the NBA appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Athleticism has always run through Tim Hammond.
In elementary school he thrived playing soccer, baseball and basketball. Today the senior director of global fan marketing for the NBA aims to bring diversity both to the court and in the stands.
Though his passion for sports began at a young age, Hammond admits he felt a bit distant from the athletic community as he was coming into his identity during his adolescence.
“I didn’t really see myself represented in sports, both from a major league standpoint, but also in my community,” Hammond told Outsports.
His work doing just that, and his four-plus-year career with the NBA, are why he is part of the Rising 50 for the 2025 Outsports Power 100.
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While he may have fallen out of the sports world for a time, Hammond still managed to maintain a connection to the fields. One of his favorite college pastimes was attending football games during his time at University of Oregon. He has also remained an ardent fan of the Portland Trail Blazers.
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Hammond has held various stints in the entertainment industry since graduating from Oregon. He worked at Viacom for several years, directing multimillion-dollar campaigns across MTV, VH1, and Logo — and also led consumer marketing for RuPaul’s Drag Race. Hammond also briefly worked in the music industry as a senior director of marketing and communications for ASCAP.
Gay NBA executive called back to sports
By 2021, he was called back to the sports world in his current role with the NBA.
“We say often here at the NBA that basketball has the power to create community and bring different types of folks together,” Hammond said. “Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, I might have thought that was just talk, but being here at the league and being able to contribute in my day to day — and also in my position as NBA Pride co-chair – I really do believe that there’s so much opportunity to continue to build upon that simple message.”
Hammond landed his NBA Pride co-chair position after meeting Bonnie Thurston, the WNBA’s director of player programs, in the cafeteria one day.
“I think it just naturally came up that I should check out one of the pride meetings that she was organizing.” He officially took on the co-chair role in 2024, following the departure of Roman King, another 2025 Outsports Power 100 honoree now with MLS.
Much of Hammond’s day consists of developing strategy and homing in on key moments during the NBA season. Hammond and his team work closely with marketing subgroups across different clothing and merchandise brands on the creative side.
Hammond is also aware of a constant divisive political landscape and how it affects sports. Thankfully, the NBA hasn’t backed away from campaigns like NBA Pride and Pride Nights, and the organization is still looking for ways to support LGBTQ players and fans.
Granted, some fans may be bold sharing unseemly thoughts online, but Hammond reminds us that social media is only a small percentage of the world. As he’s learned through various stages of his life, there’s room for everyone in sports.
“Sometimes you’ll see comments from fans or followers of accounts on social media that definitely don’t feel that supportive,” Hammond shared. “But I think that’s a lesson for all of us in terms of trolls on social media.
“It’s really important to understand that’s not representative of [the sports landscape]. When you’re in an arena, standing next to another fan, there’s nothing that can replace that.”
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The post Longtime gay sports fan and athlete finds a home and career in the NBA appeared first on Outsports.
