Amaechi opens up about life since admitting he's gay

	John Amaechi was pleasantly surprised by the reaction to the news that he is gay. AP
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John Amaechi played five seasons in the NBA with Cleveland, Orlando and Utah but never fully introduced himself to the world until February, when he became the first current or former NBA player to admit he is gay in his book, Man in the Middle. His revelation, three years after his retirement, caused a firestorm of opinions from current and former players, ranging from understanding to downright disgusted.

"Well, I knew it would cause some fuss despite the fact that only 30 pages of the book had something to do with me being gay," he says. "People do tend to focus on the sensational bits, but I knew it would be the start of something. The fact that it had legs and went for weeks and weeks and weeks, I don't think anyone expected that. I'm pleased with that. I think it's important."

I recently caught up with the Amaechi to talk about how his life has changed since he came out of the closet and if he thinks others will soon follow his lead.

SI.com: Do you think a gay athlete would be any more accepted today than they would have been 10-20 years ago?

Amaechi: It's hard when you're doing this whole sweeping cultural thing, but we're seeing time after time, symptoms of bigotry, stereotyping and prejudice. It's Tim Hardaway, it's General [Peter] Pace, it's Ann Coulter, it's Imus, it's somebody else. To me, it does indicate this trend now where we're sinking back in this idea that we've been politically correct in the '80s and '90s and now it's time for us to get real again and start saying what's on our mind. It shows us, we're accepting bigotry again.

SI.com: Did Hardaway's comments surprise you or did you get the sense that his opinions represented that of other players as well?

Amaechi: He represents a percentage of people. The one thing I'm disappointed in is that if you look at things, people want to say that homophobia is a black problem. They do represent a voice of a certain percentage of society, but is it all of the NBA? Hell no! Just in the same way that Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley don't represent the entire NBA, they're the two ends: the right and the left. In the middle you have a bunch of guys who haven't made up their mind yet, who haven't thought of the issue, which is another reason that is good that I'm there, to make them think about the issue.

SI.com: Have any of your former teammates and coaches been in contact with you since the book came out?

Amaechi: The only person who has contacted me is Scott Brooks. Grant Hill said nice things to the media. Barkley, Wade and Shaq said nice things to the media. A lot of guys said dumb stuff to the media. But no current, active player has been in touch with me.

SI.com: One of those "dumb comments" may have been that you weren't a good teammate because you weren't honest with your teammates about your sexuality.

Amaechi: That's LeBron James. That's utter nonsense. It's absolutely the spoutings of someone who has never traveled, who has never looked at the world beyond the bubble he lives in. It's a classic double bind. He is the most powerful basketball player on the planet right now, and when he says stuff, [people listen], so what he's saying is that, "If you don't tell me, you're lying, and I can't trust you," but where's the other side? You know, "If you told me, I'd embrace you." Where's the Shaquille O'Neal side of the comment? "I would protect you, embrace you, and treat you as my teammate and my brother." Where is that part? When he does that part, then he has a right to criticize. Until then, silence.