John Amaechi made headlines with his announcement that he was gay.
He marked the first NBA athlete, current or retired, to announce his sexual orientation to the world. His announcement, timed to coincide with the release of his book “Man in the Middle,” has drawn criticism from skeptics questioning his motives.
But Amaechi’s announcement is raising questions about homosexuality in sports across professional sports and college campuses.
Oregon is no exception.
“I think the bottom line is the announcement raised awareness for his book. (Amaechi) was otherwise a journeyman player in the grand scheme of being gay,” said Paul Swangard, Managing Director for the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at Oregon.
NBA reactions
Opinions from NBA players varied. Many offered ambiguous answers, unclear on whether they’d be OK with having gay teammates. Ex-Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway emphasized his distaste for gay teammates as a guest on a popular sports radio show.
The host, Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard, questioned Hardaway on how he would feel about a gay teammate if he shared the same locker room with Hardaway.
“You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people,” he said. “I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
Le Batard gave Hardaway an opportunity to rethink his statements, but Hardaway refused.
“First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team,” Hardaway said. “And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don’t think that is right. I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room.”
The backlash came almost immediately. NBA Commissioner David Stern banished Hardaway, who was in Las Vegas at the time, from serving as an ambassador for the league in the weekend’s all-star game festivities, held Feb. 17-19.
“I think it was just the league’s swift decision that was the right one,” Swangard said.
Hardaway has since backtracked and offered his apologies.
“It came out of my mouth real crude and real bad and real ugly,” Hardaway said in an interview with ESPN columnist Scoop Jackson. “And people think that that’s the way I feel. That I hate (gay people), and I don’t. I don’t condone what they do, but I don’t hate them. But that’s how it came out.” PR nightmare…or dream?
The colorful Hardaway acknowledged his error, though Swangard, like others, feels he will have a tough time regaining his status as a revered NBA veteran.
“I think there’s always this belief that credibility is the hardest thing to get back once you’ve lost it,” Swangard said. “Can he rehabilitate himself back to where he was prior to those comments being made? I don’t think there’s a (way) that can happen.”
Swangard sees the possibility of other athletes coming out as a lengthy process, likely predicated on the league’s receptiveness, which Hardaway showed could be a while.
“It’s an evolutionary process,” Swangard said. “It will take some time, but hopefully we’ll reach a point when everyone is accepting of everybody else.”
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he thinks a gay NBA player could emerge as an American hero, who would be marketable and become a rich trendsetter by coming out.
“From a marketing perspective, if you’re a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective,” Cuban told the newspaper. “You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that’ll put money in your pocket.
“On the flip side, if you’re the idiot who condemns somebody because they’re gay, then you’re going to be ostracized, you’re going to be picketed and you’re going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have.”
The sometimes controversial Mavericks owner offered his support of Amaechi, the 5-year NBA veteran.
“On one hand, I can understand the point that Mark’s trying to make. I think the comments made by Hardaway suggest that (Amaechi) may make the working conditions difficult and that’s just the sad reality of the athlete’s perceptions about the gay or lesbian lifestyle,” Swangard said.
“So while that person may absolutely enjoy some marketing benefits, this is no different than an employee at any company coming out and then feeling that they were ostracized at work or found themselves in a hostile work environment. I think the reality here is the league’s players, not all of them, but a certain portion of them still aren’t willing to accept a gay player in the locker room, and that’s unfortunate.”
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SILENCE ON THE SIDELINES: The issue at large
Daily Emerald
February 28, 2007
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