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Post by John on Feb 6, 2007 16:32:51 GMT -4
From the Chicago Tribune...
Publicist Howard Bragman, from a Los Angeles-based company called Fifteen Minutes, was spreading the word at the Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl party Saturday that a former NBA player he represents will be announcing publicly that he is gay on Valentine's Day. Bragman would say only that the player has been retired for about three years and was not a member of the Bulls or the Nets. He added that the player was not a prominent name in the NBA. The player also has a book that will be released in conjunction with his public disclosure.
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Post by John on Feb 7, 2007 14:33:44 GMT -4
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Post by John on Feb 8, 2007 18:54:02 GMT -4
An excerpt from his book... Via the Salt Lake Tribune...
It's hard to overestimate the stranglehold of the Latter Day Saints on the state of Utah. With the majority of the residents, the church had major say in everything from the composition of the legislature to what was considered appropriate attire. Which is why I was astonished that the city is the hippest, gayest place east of San Francisco. (Okay, so there's not a lot in between.)
Frankly, the Jazz fan base isn't all that different from that of Coffee Garden. You can't throw a basketball into a crowd without hitting a gay man or a lesbian. Dozens of season ticket holders who sat directly behind the bench were same-sex couples. I knew they were gay because they'd show up at some of my parties. (One of my guests even turned out to work for Senator Orrin Hatch.)
...Yet the Mormon majority seems blithely unaware of this flamboyant minority in its midst. They see same-sex couples walking down the street hand-in-hand. They drive by parts of town where every other Victorian house is festooned with rainbow flags. They see joyfully gay men pouring in and out of bars and clubs.
And at the same time, they don't see it. They're oblivious.
ON JERRY SLOAN: Jerry raged against players whom he thought didn't play hard enough, claiming they were undermining coaches across the league. If we lost two or three in a row, he would stride into practice yelling, "You fucking assholes are trying to get me fired. I'm not losing my job because you guys aren't hustling."
During one of these job-insecurity diatribes, Karl [Malone] looked at me and smirked, "If only we were so lucky." Then he went back to the posture he's long ago adopted: working diligently on his game while pretending Jerry didn't exist.
The whole "love of the game" debate was absurd. Did one of the game's most distinguished coaches honestly believe that the guys who played for him over the years would love basketball if they were not raking in the big bucks?
I knew for a fact that plenty didn't enjoy the game, because they told me so. Several of my teammates joked that they deserved their fat bank accounts, fancy cars, and mansions just to "put up with Jerry's shit."
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Post by John on Feb 16, 2007 15:47:49 GMT -4
From the Onion...
British homosexual John Amaechi sent shockwaves throughout the sporting world last week when he announced, much to the surprise of his family and friends—in addition to NBA players and fans—that he lived a double life for five years in which he secretly worked as a professional basketball player.
"It was difficult living with this secret," said Amaechi, who in his new autobiography Man In The Middle reveals that he played in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, and perhaps most shockingly, the New York Knicks. "I loved it and hated it at the same time. And I was afraid that if I ever acted on some of my impulses, like say by requesting more playing time, that I would have ultimately embarrassed myself and everyone close to me."
"Now, it's like a tremendous weight has been lifted," Amaechi added, stating that although he still feels a certain shame about his furtive involvement in the often shadowy world of professional basketball, it has been a great relief to finally be able to speak openly about his professional life.
According to Amaechi, who spent most of his NBA career on the bench and only averaged six points and two rebounds per game, he knew at an early age that he was different from all the "normal players" when he went undrafted out of college, was unnoticed during his first season in which he only played 28 games, and was never involved with guns, drugs, or shifty agents. Amaechi claims he never once had the urge to record a sub-par rap album.
Furthermore, no matter where Amaechi played, he always felt "awkward and out of place" on the court, adding that he was "never really certain if [he] was a center or a power forward."
"I had no idea," former Cavaliers teammate Terrell Brandon said. "Sure, I saw John around the Cavaliers, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. He was tall, yeah, but he didn't look like a basketball player. He didn't act like a basketball player. And just because he hung around with a lot of basketball players and sometimes wore flashy jewelry, that didn't necessarily mean he was one, y'know?"
"Oh, please—I knew it all along," former Jazz teammate John Stockton said. "I mean, just look at the way he dressed—basketball jersey, mesh shorts, sneakers… There was, in my opinion, no doubt that he was, at least a little bit. Just because he was homosexual doesn't mean he couldn't be a basketball player."
In his book, Amaechi states that he even hid his occupation from his parents because he "came from a traditional British household" and his parents would not have approved of their son being an NBA player. Amaechi admits he was constantly worried during the Jazz's nationally televised playoff series with the Sacramento Kings in 2002, because cameras panning over to the bench could have revealed to his family and friends at home that he was in the NBA.
"The last thing you want is for them to find out that way," said Amaechi, who claims his parents have been "very supportive and accepting, although they don't understand why someone would want that kind of life."
"I think Coach [Jerry Sloan] knew," said Amaechi, adding that Sloan treated him differently than his teammates, most of whom played significantly more minutes. "And, I am sure that some of the diehard fans, the ones who came to every game and stayed even when we were getting blown out, I think they knew."
"But what hurt the most was that I didn't feel comfortable around my own teammates," he added. "And if I had told them I was a basketball player, I don't think they would have accepted it, or even believed it."
The response to Amaechi's announcement around the league has ranged from complete indifference to unconditional support.
"I can't believe I showered with that guy," said former Jazz teammate Karl Malone, who played with Amaechi for two seasons. "I mean, it's just weird. I really think I would have remembered something like that."
"Good for him," said Houston Rockets shooting guard Tracy McGrady, who played with Amaechi when he was on the Orlando Magic. "You know, I wish he would have come out earlier. Like in the third quarter of some games. Maybe he wasn't the best gay basketball player I've ever seen, but we could have used another big man in the lineup."
Though he refused to name names, Amaechi said that he knows other men out there who, unsuspected by the world, are also living secret lives as professional basketball players.
"I just hope my new book will inspire them to come out when they retire," Amaechi added. "Despite the way we're portrayed in the media, and in spite of the way we're treated by the world at large, being an NBA player is nothing to be ashamed of."
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