Tolerance Revisited - Facing the Truth About Gays in the NBA

A Tale of a Lesson Not yet Learneds

Since I wrote "Talking Tolerance, Achieving Equality and Why It's In To Be Out" the John Amaechi portion of the article has grown. John wrote a book, Man In The Middle" about his life and being a gay man playing in NBA. The book seems to have opened up more than the door to Amaechi's closet.

Tim Hardaway has his say.

Hardaway a former NBA star player spoke harshly saying "I hate gays." He expounded on his viewpoint with "First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team." He added "And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, 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." Hardaway assured that if he were still playing and found out a fellow player were gay, he would ask the man be removed for the team. With these words, the so-called macho man world of basketball seemed to be turned on its ear. What followed is a lesson in fear and ambivalence.

The closet door swings both ways.

David Stern the commissioner of the NBA issued his own declaration, "We removed him from representing us because we didn't think his comments were consistent with having anything to do with us." The commissioner went on to say, "This is an issue overall that has fascinated America. It's not an NBA issue," and "This is a country that needs to talk about this issue...And, not surprisingly, they use sports as a catalyst to begin the dialogue."

John Amaechi, now propelled into the role of gay NBA spokesman, went on to contribute his own mismatched statements. In one, he commended Tim Hardaway publicly for his honesty. In addressing the subject Amaechi asserted that it was good that the man had expressed what he felt were the true feelings of most straight NBA players. When I first heard this, I thought this guy is really a class act. Next, he goes on to praise David Stern for taking action against Hardaway. Now, I have to rethink my opinion.

The Fallout has just begun.