As we noted yesterday, the past few days have been a few small steps forward for gays in sports. On Sunday, Phoneix Suns president and inventor of All-Star Weekend Rick Welts came out to The New York Times. Then former Villanova basketball player Will Sheridan came out to ESPN yesterday.
We’ve heard about how there are gay players in the NBA and every other professional sport. Why hasn’t one come out while he was playing? Well, we think it’s because of the abuse he’d take from the fans and, even worse, the abuse he’d get from his teammates. But maybe we’re already there, Maybe we’re past that point.
At least, that’s what Charles Barkley thinks. Barkley, the always outspoken Hall-of-Famer and current NBA analyst, spoke with Mike Wise of The Washington Post. Barkley said he played with several guys who he knew were gay. He thinks everyone who’s played sports in college or professionally had gay teammates. And he doesn’t necessarily think it would be a problem if a player came out to his teammates:
I really like ESPN. They do a great job. But like once every two or three months, they bring all these people on there, and they tell me how me and my team are going to respond to a gay guy. First of all, every player has played with gay guys. It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say, “Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.” First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.
On Slate’s “Hang Up and Listen” podcast, the panelists spoke about Welts’ coming out, and they decided it was remarkable that the story was remarkable. Maybe that’s how it’ll be when the first player comes out. Sheridan’s teammates knew he was gay, and there weren’t any problems. Maybe players are ready for it, or maybe Barkley’s just more open-minded than most.
After all, just check out Grant Hill’s Twitter page—see the responses to his anti-homophobia PSA—and you’ll reminded of how far we still have to go.
—Photo AP
Ha, aesthetically pleasing basketball is another reason to watch non-Celtics games. I’m really not looking forward to watching people pick through Charles Barkley’s rosters and make pointless conjecture. I assume his teammates would accept him, or at least handle their problems behind closed doors, because nobody in the NBA, from top to bottom, wants to see another Tim Hardaway incident, and I’d be surprised if there hasn’t already been a lot of media training taking place w/r/t to this specific subject. As for everyone else? I’d argue it’s impossible to predict because it depends on the player and situation. There… Read more »
Chuck has been one of the few reasons to watch non-Celtics games for quite a while now. I am glad he is speaking out about gay athletes, and making clear that being good and gay as a teammate is a lot better than straight and sucking. Love that he just refuses to call a game when it gets out of hand and goes off on another insane monologue. Then any guy who picks a fight with Shaq has got to be nuts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cUzJn83n9k&feature=related