Some Guys Are Normal

Welcome Out John Amaechi

Former NBA player, John Amaechi came out as gay earlier this week. He's the first NBA player to acknowledge publicly that he's gay, which finally puts the league in line with all of the other major sports by having at least one gay former player. This is a great step to showing the public that gay people are just like everyone else.

An even better sign, for me, is that Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who coached coached Amaechi in Orlando, was supportive of John when asked about the coming out, calling him "better than a good kid...a fantastic kid" and later saying, "he was great for the team."

Next up is having a player come out while still playing. All of the players so far have come out post retirement. I understand it's a big deal (hey, it took me 3 years to come out at work, and while all of our 400 employees know who I am, I'm definitely not a public figure), but it's the next big step that needs to be taken.

**Update**
ShakesSis has a great take on this story, and links to several articles and reactions from other NBA players and coaches. Noted positive responses came from Grant Hill and Charles Barkley (funny how I used to hate him until he played for the Rockets, and I've somehow liked him ever since). Mediocre responses came from Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neal. Check out the link to see some of the bad stuff--I'm gonna keep this post positive.

posted by Brady @ 8:02 AM