Gay basketball player

First openly gay men’s : For years, the NBA and other major leagues were slow to embrace openly gay players

Before the program airedhe told various people about it beforehand. In addition to his parents and brothers, Gordon told close friends, including high school teammate and NBA superstar Kyrie Irving. At UMass, after coming out, the student body was largely behind him, but the basketball team was not as supportive.

Gordon said he never spent time with the team outside of practice and games. Cancel reply. UMass football hunts for first win against Kent State. Your email address will not be published. On Friday afternoon, the former player returned to UMass to discuss his journey toward peace, confidence and self-love.

Eventually, Gordon said, he was left without a choice. He felt trapped, unable to come out to anyone, due in large part to his lifelong dream of making the NBA, something he felt would be compromised by being publicly gay. For my purposes, “Out” means confirmed by the player either in an interview or on their social media.

More in I miss Taylor Swift. Gordon tried to play it off, but rumors spread and his team began to treat him differently. UMass field hockey looks to bounce back against Longwood. He saidwith the exception of his former roommate, Tyler Bergantino, he never talks to former Minutemen teammates anymore.

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A teammate, Chaz Williams, found an Instagram post Gordon liked of himself and his boyfriend. This standout season garnered great interest from the Minutemen as Gordon transferred to UMass a year later. A fter redshirting a year, he assumed a vital role on the team that brought the Minutemen back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the season.

Gordon ended the conversation on an optimistic note, noting how many more resources and support LGBTQ students have today, and giving advice to students who may be in the same situation he was 11 years ago. More to Discover. H e discussed his basketball journey and his parallel course towards acceptance from his community, teammates and loved ones.

W hile the team thrivedGordon underwent inner turmoil. 15 basketball players you didn’t know were gay Originally published by Ian S in March and Updated by Ian S in May Lately, the LGBTQ community is widely present in sports all over the world, with the majority of athletes coming out in the open to declare their orientation, unlike in the old days.

Though he recognized it c ould affect his chances of making it to the NBA, Gordon chose to be happy and true to him self. Derrick Gordon is the only gay Division I men's college basketball player to come out publicly while playing.

He returned to UMass. Either I had to come out or stop playing basketball. Maria Uminski. Cole Smith-Rakoff can be reached at [email protected].