Wait… is that a synthetic ball?
As expected, the news that former NBA player John is gay has caused quite a stir in the NBA community. For the most part, the blogosphere has blogged about it and shrugged because Amaechi was a role player. But not so with certain NBA athletes. While team PR executives probably wish they would just say something along the lines of “as long as he’s a good teammate, it doesn’t matter if he’s gay”, some NBA players decided to actually not talk in cliches for once.
Here’s a smattering of quotes from various NBA players.
Stephen Hunter (Sixers): “For real? He’s gay for real? Nowadays it’s proven that people can live double lives. I watch a lot of TV, so I see a lot of sick, perverted stuff about married men running around with gay guys and all types of foolishness… As long as he don’t make any advances toward me, I’m fine with it.”
Shavlik Randolph (Sixers): “As long as you don’t bring your gayness on me I’m fine. As far as business-wise, I’m sure I could play with him. But I think it would create a little awkwardness in the locker room.” (Can you imagine Shavlik blocking a shot and yelling, “get that gayness out of here!”)
LeBron James: “We spend so much time together, we’re like family. You take showers together, you’re on the bus, you talk about things. With teammates, you have to be trustworthy. If you’re gay and you’re not admitting that you are, you’re not trustworthy. It’s the locker room code; it’s a trust factor.”
OK, we think we understand this now. You can be gay in the NBA as long as you tell your teammates, wear blinders in the shower, and don’t bring your gayness on them.
Of course, there were also players and coaches who said they would be accepting of a gay player. Grant Hill applauded Amaechi’s decision to come out and said, “The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring.” And as always, Moe Cheeks is one of the classiest guys in the NBA: “I take people as they are… I would think players would do the same thing, take people for who they are. Who am I to pass judgment on anyone?”
Isiah Thomas: “We preach acceptance. We’re proud of our diversity. No matter what your sexual preference might be, there’s an acceptance and a tolerance level that should be accepted everywhere. No one should be excluded. If it’s in my locker room, we won’t have a problem with it. I can’t speak for somebody else’s locker room, but if it’s in mine, we won’t have a problem. I’ll make damn sure there’s no problem.”
Troy Hudson: “I just knew him as a teammate. He was a cool guy. I didn’t expect that [announcement]. He kept it pretty hush-hush. That’s his own personal preference. So you can’t fault a man for who they are or what they are. It’s probably a good thing for himself that he finally opened up. He’s probably been going through a lot trying to keep it a secret.”
Tracy McGrady: “To each his own. That’s his own sexual preference. I had no problem with it when I played with him. You kind of had a sense. It didn’t bother me. As long as a guy is producing on the basketball court, I don’t care what he is. I have no problem with it. He is what he is. If he wants to come out and let everybody know his sexual (preference), it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care. I wouldn’t have cared then. If he would have come out when I was his teammate, I wouldn’t have cared. If he was producing on the basketball court and was keeping it professional, I would have had no problem with it.”
Eddy Curry: “If one of my teammates came out and said that, I’d be supportive of him because those are my teammates. Those are the guys I went to war with night in and night out. Regardless of what he does off the court, we battle together.”
Links:
[Yahoo]: Amaechi to come out publicly
[Philly.com]: Former NBA player reveals that he is gay
