John Amaechi Is Still Not Convinced A Player Could Come Out While Playing, Cites Tony Dungy And Former Jazz Owner As Reasons Why
May 17, 2011 – 10:20 am by Chris Fedor
Over the weekend, Suns president and chief executive officer Rick Welts delivered a bombshell that had nothing to do with basketball. Welts revealed in an interview with the New York Times that he was gay. This is huge news around the NBA not just because of his announcement, but because Welts is believed to be the first man in a prominent position in men’s sports who has declared his homosexuality. There have been players before around the sports world, but nobody in this kind of position.
Someone’s sexual preference is irrelevant to me. What Rick Welts does in his own time is his business. As long as he is still very good at his job, that is all that matters. Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way and there are still some people that haven’t caught up to some realities of society. John Amaechi, a former NBA player, waited until after he finished his playing career because of fear. After working hard to be an NBA player, he felt like that could have been taken away from him and waited until his career was over to announce his homosexuality.
John Amaechi joined ESPN 850 WKNR in Cleveland with Tony Rizzo to talk about when he found out about Rick Welts being gay, why he waited to announce his homosexuality following his NBA career, whether or not he felt his teammates and the fans would’ve still supported him if he announced he was gay while playing, and how much scrutiny he thinks a player would get if he or she announced they were gay.
Listen on our player below:
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