GenQ - For the not so straight individual

36 year old former NBA center John Amaechi is now the sixth male player in one of the four primary U.S. sports (basketball, baseball, football, and hockey) to publicly come out of the closet as a homosexual man, joining the ranks of men like Esera Tuaolo, David Kopay, and Roy Simmons. Retiring from the NBA in 2004, he is also the sixth to come out after retiring from their sport. There has been no publicly out male professional athlete in any of these four sports during their time actually playing that sport professionally.

This announcement has understandably received varied reactions from many throughout the league, most of which were, publicly at least, mostly accepting. Some players, such as Shavlik Randolph and Steven Hunter of the Philadelphia Sixers, stated publicly that they were in general alright with homosexual players in the NBA in general, "as long as you don't bring your gayness on me."

Accompanying his public declaration of his sexuality, Amaechi is releasing an autobiography, entitled "Man in the Middle," in which he discusses his introduction to sports and many of the hardships he endured throughout his time with the professional teams that he played with.

"Man in the Middle" will be released on February 14th.