Former Jazz player says he is gay

In a prepared statement released by the Jazz late Wednesday, Sloan said, "John is one of 117 players I have coached in the past 19 seasons, and it has always been my philosophy that my job is to make sure Jazz players perform to their maximum ability on the floor. As far as his personal life is concerned, I wish John the best and have nothing further to add."

NBA commissioner David Stern told The AP that a player's sexual preference is unimportant. "We have a very diverse league. The question at the NBA is always 'have you got game?' That's it, end of inquiry," Stern said.

Amaechi, a center/forward, was signed to a four-year Jazz contract in July 2001 and traded to Houston in September 2003 for Glen Rice and three future draft picks. He never played for Houston and was traded to the New York Knicks, who did not play him and eventually bought out his contract. He retired to England, where he grew up, and does television appearances and works with children. He funded the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester. Amaechi played for Cleveland and Orlando prior to Utah.

Sheridan's ESPN.com story said Amaechi thought Kirilenko, a Russian, was aware and accepting of his lifestyle and that Kirilenko invited Amaechi and a partner, if he had one, to a 2002 Christmas party but that Amaechi declined because he was having his own party. Amaechi said he sent Kirilenko a $500 bottle of champagne in thanks for a gesture "that meant the world to me, especially in the middle of a dreadful season in a strange desert state that in the end provided some of the best days of my life.

"It also showed that in my own paranoia and overwhelming desire for privacy, I'd failed to give some of my teammates the benefit of the doubt," Sheridan quoted Amaechi as writing.

An article Tuesday in Outsports.com, which obtained a copy of the book, mentioned other things about Amaechi's time in Utah, including this about Sloan: "Unbeknownst to me at the time," Amaechi said in the book, "Sloan had used some anti-gay innuendo to describe me. It was confirmed via e-mails from friends who worked in high-level front-office jobs with the Jazz."

Sloan's only comment on e-mails was that he doesn't know how to turn on a computer.

Outsports.com also said Amaechi wrote of "spirited and friendly political arguments with Karl Malone," though he, in Sheridan's article. called Malone uncomfortable with foreigners.

Outsports.com also told of Amaechi's "regret that he never told Greg Ostertag, 'the gentle big man' whom he respected, that he was gay when Ostertag asked him."

Sheridan's article mentioned the same and said Amaechi's reply to Ostertag was, "You have nothing to worry about, Greg."