John Amaechi, the first NBA player to come out as gay and the sixth in the history of the US professional leagues, has published his third book ‘It’s Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders’.
The former British player published his homosexuality in a book in which he related how hard it was to live his sexual condition in a world like the NBA and how he was forced to take refuge in gay clubs (especially in his time in the Mormon city of Salt Lake City).
If my goal was to help people feel more comfortable coming out in sport, I have failed miserably
Amaechi denounced in that book that Karl Malone is homophobic and that Jerry Sloan hated him because of his sexual orientation.
I don’t think there was anyone in my life in 2005, or frankly in 1999, or frankly in 1995, who didn’t know I was gay
The former Magic, Jazz and Cavaliers player left the NBA in 2003 with averages of 6.2 points and 2.6 rebounds.
John Amaechi: I know I’m not Ian McKellen. I know I’m not… insert the name of a gay hero
In an interview with Hoopshype, the media-savvy John Amaechi, who came out as gay in 2007 in his famous book ‘Man in the Middle’, reflects on his role as a leader and social role model.
“If my goal was to help people feel more comfortable coming out in sport, I have failed miserably,” Amaechi tells Sam Yip.
John Amaechi, who is a psychology graduate, commented that “we’re all a giant to somebody, right? I know I’m not Ian McKellen. I know I’m not… insert the name of a gay hero. I know I’m not that person. But there will be people who, because of their demographic and circumstances, will look at me and connect more easily than with others.”
“It may not drastically change their life, but maybe it’s just a ray of light in an existence that is otherwise somewhat bleak. And if I’ve done it once with someone, that’s great. That’s pretty cool,” said the former Cleveland Cavaliers, Cholet, Panathinaikos, Virtus Bologna, Sheffield Sharks, Limoges, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz player.
John Amaechi: “There was only one time I didn’t directly answer the question ‘are you gay?'”
John Amaechi recalls that “I don’t think there was anyone in my life in 2005, or frankly in 1999, or frankly in 1995, who didn’t know I was gay. It wasn’t a big surprise to the people who care about me. It was just a surprise to random people who wanted to yell at me from the sidelines. Or from the bar stools.”
“Did my teammates suspect it? Yes, many. They asked me about it during my career and I told them,” he said.
John Amaechi acknowledged that “there was only one time that I didn’t directly answer the question ‘are you gay?’ It was with Greg Ostertag, because he asked me as we walked onto the court to play. I said, ‘This is not the time for this conversation.’ Otherwise, the truth is that not many people ask, but if anyone did get to ask, it was people who met my partners, the ones I had back then. So it’s no surprise,” he explained.
“My family, friends and teammates –not all of them– did know, so I had already come out of the closet”
The former basketball player believes that “coming out is contextual. And while the world might have thought I came out in 2007, what that really means is that a bunch of strangers knew something about me that they didn’t know before. But my family, friends, teammates — not all of them — but those who I believed cared about me and who I cared about, they did know. So I was already out.”
“And right now, and you may or may not know this, there are a lot of gay people in the NBA who have come out in the same way. Some of their coaches, colleagues, training staff and some referees. I remember meeting a referee once in a gay bar in Phoenix. And so, you get to know some of these people,” he said.
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