He says he's gay...now what?

Pictured above is John Amaechi, a former NBA player who most notably spent time with the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic in his short career. To be nice, Amaechi was mediocre at best during his time in the league and his perhaps best (only) known for scoring the first points of the 21st century. Recently though, Amaechi's "fame" went to another level so to speak, as he announced that he was gay. With that announcement, he became the first NBA player, current of former, to come out of the closet. His story will be told through a book, which is I think appropriately titled Man in the Middle.

Predictably, there has been a wide range of reaction to the Amaechi story. Some say it's a none issue. Others don't care either way. A few such as ESPN's LZ Granderson were unimpressed with Amaechi's decision to come out after he left the league. Now, I don't know whether Amaechi was gay when he was active in the NBA, but if he was, I kind of feel Granderson in that, he would have more credibility and respect from me if he were bold enough to make his announcement while he was playing. Now, I know that would not have been the easiest thing to do and he perhaps would have been unfairly mistreated in and out of the locker room, but his lifestyle off the court shouldn't have affected his play on the court. But again, it was his decision and I respect it.

I am perhaps the most heterosexual-esque male on the planet (at least, I think I am), but I have no problem wit gay people. Although I may not agree with their lifestyle, I respect their decision to live their life the way they want. With that said, I find it interested that a person's decision to come out of the closet always is some sort of groundbreaking achievement. I can understand the interest in Amaechi's story because male athletes are seen as masculine and macho and for him to say he's gay went against a universal stereotype. But now what, I'm sure Amaechi's life, now that this is public info, will change a bit. But does this now mean you'll see more athletes coming out of the closet? I don't think so. Will this change the perception of athletes and what type of lifestyle we think the lead? Not so much.

Now that the dust has settled on Amaechi, I guess we'll just have to wait until the next "big" news...