Amaechi-do About Nothing

John Amaechi. Gay.

According to the Boston Celtics, that's Gay-OK.

Just, uh, make sure you let Al Jefferson know to keep both hands on the soap.

Jefferson was uncertain about how teammates and fans would react if a current player came out. Amaechi, like those in U.S. team sports before him, didn’t do so until after his retirement.
“I don’t know,” Jefferson said. “It’s hard to say. I mean, would his teammates want to play on the same team with him? I don’t know. You’ve got to understand teammates take showers with each other. They’re around each other every day. I don’t know. I can’t speak on that.

Gays, people. In our NBA lockerrooms. Taking showers -- and they're probably using lavender-scented soaps. Explain to me how Mark Blount is going to concentrate on pulling down an offensive rebound if he has to rub bodies with some European named Michel, taut and glistening, his hair like meadowgrass, on the tide...

So John Amaechi is gay. Just like Esera Tuaolo and that guy who wrote Moneyball.*

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Ukraine is game to you?! How 'bout I take your board and smash it to pieces?!

= = =

* May not be accurate.

Edit: In the interest of furthering the discourse, and in response to a previous comment, I give my fully articulated opinion on the matter, unsullied by sarcasm and references to Tom Waits:

My objective here was two-fold, and I admit that while writing this in haste, I sacrificed some precision in my analysis. One, comments such as those made by Al Jefferson (and others; Shavlik Randolph said, "As long as you don't bring your gayness on me I'm fine") suggest that NBA players aren't necessarily prepared to deal with an openly-gay teammate. But Amaechi, as a retired player and not one of great import (journeyman role player for five seasons) isn't as impactful as the media would like for us to believe. That he is the first openly-gay former NBA player is mere trivia -- retired athletes in other sports (the NFL's Esera Tuaolo, MLB's Billy Bean) have already as much as confirmed that homosexuality in the locker room or clubhouse is a reality. But a retired player gives players such as Jefferson and Randolph a measure of security, in that they don't need to confront him in their professional capacities. What sport needs to really progress on this issue is the first openly-gay active player. Given some of the attitudes expressed about Amaechi, it will probably take a true star player to overcome the ensuing stigma and scrutiny.

So there it is: 1) professional basketball players aren't necessarily socially enlightened, and 2) Amaechi's announcement does little to alter perceptions beyond what his predecessors have already accomplished.