Amaechi, Jazz never clicked

John Amaechi was a terrific person to talk to about any subject.

Except basketball, remembers Utah Jazz center Jarron Collins, who was a rookie when Amaechi was a backup center.

Not everybody loves their job, but it was the first time Collins said he ever encountered a basketball player who wasn't interested in the game.

"You could talk to John Amaechi about anything in the world, and he had an opinion about it. Very intelligent," said Collins, who graduated from Stanford himself.

"But when you'd talk to him about teams, like, 'Hey, did you see that game last night? Did you see the Nets play Atlanta last night?' you knew that you just don't even go there because he didn't care."

Amaechi, who retired in 2003 to England, where he was raised, this week has become the first NBA player to publicly admit that he is gay, in connection with an autobiographical book he has written, "Man in the Middle," for ESPN's book division. He will be interviewed on ESPN's "Inside the Lines" TV show Tuesday.

The book is critical of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, owner Larry H. Miller and the Salt Lake community. It charges Sloan made "anti-gay innuendo to describe me" and details Amaechi's dislike for the no-nonsense coach. Sloan has admitted the two did not "see eye to eye" on basketball matters but said he did not know Amaechi was gay, and it wouldn't have mattered.

In two seasons with Utah, the 6-foot-10 Amaechi averaged 3.2 and 2.0 points and 2.0 and 1.4 rebounds with the poorest field-goal shooting percentage on the team. He signed a four-year Jazz contract worth about $10 million. He was traded after the second season but never played again in the NBA.

Collins said he couldn't assess the root of the Sloan-Amaechi problems, "But I know from a coaching standpoint — and I'm just a player, I've never coached other than kids — if I've got a player on a team that just has no interest in the sport whatsoever, it's going to be difficult for me to coach, to be around that person," Collins said.

"I just feel like he didn't have any motivation to play at all, (other than) the money. He's actually made that statement to me before — 'No other job is going to pay me what I make in this short amount of time.'

"He's very rational about it. It makes sense when you put it through his logic."