Amaechi's coming out; So what?

So John Amaechi is gay.

What am I supposed to do about that, forget he was a disappointing player who didn't work terribly hard? Nominate his book for a Pulitzer in literature?

Maybe I should do nothing. Treat it as though Wednesday's breaking story really wasn't such a big deal. Consider it a mildly interesting news item on an average-at-best NBA player.

Of course I can't totally ignore the story, since he played two uneventful seasons in Utah. A player's sexual preference is apparently part of the media's job, though as far as I can tell it doesn't have much to do with how he shoots a 10-foot jumper (which, by the way, is horribly). Being gay isn't going to hurt or help that.

The issue of sexual preference in sports has been publicized for years, going back to Billie Jean King. One by one, major sports have had players come out and declare themselves gay: baseball's Billy Bean, football's Esera Tuaolo, golf's Patty Sheehan, tennis' Martina Navratilova, etc. But until now, no NBA player has come forward.

Amaechi is reportedly set to publicly "out" himself in a book entitled "Man in the Middle" in which he describes his six seasons in the NBA. Early reports say the 6-foot-10 center criticizes his former coach, Jerry Sloan, whom he suggests is a homophobe. Amaechi goes on to claim Sloan "used some anti-gay innuendo to describe me."

It's certainly possible Sloan said some things, considering his tough guy, manly man approach. At the same time, Amaechi is prone to exaggeration. On his Web site (www.meech.org), he labels himself "The U.K.'s first and only NBA superstar."

Superstar?

In 2003, Amaechi claimed Jazz coaches were anti-intellectual and hated him because he was smart and well-rounded. In that case, why did they sign Jacque Vaughn, Adam Keefe and Walter Palmer?

Amaechi's original claim was that Sloan accused him of hating Americans (he grew up in England) and white people and thinking he was smarter than anyone else. Amaechi later said the offending party wasn't Sloan but player development coach Mark McKown.

McKown said he merely told Amaechi he "gives the impression" he believes those things.

In any case, I had no idea when Amaechi was in Utah that he was gay, nor did I have any reason to care. All I knew was that he was out of shape when he came to training camp and that he was an interesting and engaging interview (he even made the NBA All-Interview first team). My favorite Amaechi quote centered around nacho chips, which he considered the most mystifying food in American culture.

"I can't conceive having that cheese in my stomach. I don't know what that cheese is. I don't think anybody does," he once said.

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