Ex-NBA player comes out of the closet.

[muntrv]

http://www.comcast.net/sports/index.jsp?cat=SPORTS&fn=/2007/02/07/581137.html&cvqh=itn_nbaplayer

[soothsayer]

1. cool! thanks---John Amaechi, a center

snip

John Amaechi is gay, and now the first NBA player to come out publicly is ready to talk about it. Amaechi, a center who spent five seasons with four teams, is scheduled to appear on ESPN's Outside the Lines on Sunday, and his autobiography "Man in the Middle," will be released Feb. 14.

"He is coming out of the closet as a gay man," Amaechi's publicist Howard Bragman said Wednesday.

snip

much more at that link

[terrya]

2. I'm glad to read that.

Sadly, it will be a while before someone currently playing in professional sports can come out. I hate to reference a certain ad, but I think that was indicative of homosexuality in professional sports today.

[JackBeck]

4. I agree with you 100%.

And some posters think that homophobia in professional team sports is yet another thing that we should just "get over".

[terrya]

5. I'd suggest an excellent book on the subject....

of homosexuality in professional sports.

"Alone in the Trenches" by Esera Tuaolo. Esera was a pro football player...played on several pro football teams, including the Green Bay Packers. He talks about his experiences playing as a very closeted gay man. It's very illuminating reading.

[JackBeck]

7. I've been thinking about him the past few days and have brought him up as an example.

I've seen lots of interviews with him as well. Almost all of the closeted players who've come out after retiring seemed to share a common hidden feeling: they didn't want to be "taken out" if they came out. I believe Esera has spoken about his fear of getting his knees or legs broken on the field if he cam out. I can't imagine that fear, since it's so different than my experiences leading up to coming out.

[MADem]

3. A snippet from the full article

...In his book, Amaechi describes the challenge of being gay in a league where it is assumed that all players are heterosexual. He writes that while playing in Utah, coach Jerry Sloan used anti-gay innuendo to describe him.

Sloan said Wednesday that although his relationship with Amaechi was "shaky" because of the player's attitude, he didn't know Amaechi was gay. Sloan had no comment about Amaechi's contention that Sloan used anti-gay innuendo when referring to him. Amaechi said he found out about it in e-mails from friends in the Jazz front office.

When asked if knowing Amaechi was gay would have mattered, Sloan said: "Oh yeah, it would have probably mattered. I don't know exactly, but I always have peoples' feelings at heart. People do what they want to do. I don't have a problem with that."

Amaechi, 36, who is British, competed for Penn State, then played 301 NBA games over five seasons. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in the NBA. He began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995-96, then spent a few years playing in Europe. He rejoined the NBA to play for the Orlando Magic from 1999-01, then played two seasons for the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz traded him to Houston, which traded him to the New York Knicks. When the Knicks waived him in January 2004, he retired.

[cboy4]

6. The reaction to the Snickers advertisement is one of the reasons

professional athletes do not feel comfortable coming out while they're still active.

And that's the truth.

[JackBeck]

8. I've been trying to make this point over and over again.

And NONE of those who took the position opposite of ours would answer this point.

[terrya]

9. Yeah.

Exactly right.

That ad said it all.