Since Jason Collins in 2013, no active NBA player openly came out as gay. Even outside the boundaries of the American League, coming outs in professional men’s team sport are extremely rare, whether for fear of being ridiculed or because gay athletes are discouraged by the toxic climate before reaching the highest. rungs. This week, Isaac Humphries became the only active basketball player in one of the world’s top men’s leagues to have come out as gay.
The Australian, trained in Kentucky for two years with John Calipari, then passed through the Atlanta Hawks during the 2018-2019 season (5 appearances), spoke regarding it on CNN in his native country. The 24-year-old 2.11m indoor Humphries plays today in Melbourne, NBL, in the Australian Championship.
“I’ve played everywhere. In Kentucky, in the NBA, in Europe, on the national team, it’s everywhere the same. When you’re a professional athlete, you basically have to make money, date girls and to be the best basketball player possible. So I went with the flow, as weird as it might have been. I didn’t want to attract attention. […] I resigned myself to the fact that my real life must begin when I retire”.
Except Humphries almost never got to play until retirement age. In depression in 2020, the ex-Wildcat considered suicide before coming to his senses. It was in Los Angeles, where his physical trainer is located, that Isaac Humphries met members of the LGBT+ community for the first time with positions of responsibility or real notoriety, without them needing to hide their orientation. sexual.
Little by little, following a year away from the field to treat an injury, and following his comeback in the championship of his native country, he decided that he had to be himself.
“You can be a gay man and an elite basketball player in one of the best lines on the planet. I’m living proof of that. My journey has been harder than it should have been , but I wouldn’t change that for anything. I was driven to explore the world and accept who I really was.
If it comes out negative regarding my coming out, I will take the criticism so that others don’t have to, as long as it means progress and the possibility for young people to understand that they can be themselves. same”.
Jason Collins becomes the first active NBA player to come out