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Man In The Middle
How many people remember John Ekwugha Amaechi, former NBA center? Not too many. Amaechi’s career was certainly not an illustrious one. He was a black man who could not jump. He retired January 2004 after the New York Knicks waived him. Amaechi was tossed around from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utha Jazz to the Orlando Magic and finally the New York Knicks. He spent a lot of time warming the bench. Now he’s moved to center court, waving the rainbow flag of homosexuality. His new book ‘Man In The Middle’ has created a storm, after another retired NBA player, Miami Heat Guard; Tim Hardaway made some vitriolic comments. And that has re-set the time clock. It’s a new ball game now. Amaechi is a better and bigger human being than he was a basket ball player. A courageous man, who has finally managed to stand up for what he really is, a philanthropist who works with children, (he is about to open his second community center in Manchester, England) and a decent human being who is a homosexual. He is the first NBA ball player who has admitted to being gay. Amaechi is the son of a Nigerian father and English mother, raised in England, educated at Ohio High School and Penn State University. In his book ‘Man In The Middle,’ he documents his life in the NBA and talks about what it’s like to be gay in America and professional basketball. He currently lives in London.
It is intriguing to note that there are many gay voices who are still not satisfied with Amaechi’s coming out. Why did he not do it when he was in the NBA they argue. It would have had much more of an impact.
Remember the Matthew Shepard incident. The 23-year-old man was killed October 1998 because he was gay. Now if you were tied to a split- rail fence like Shepard was on Snowy Mountain View Road, Wyoming, with killer homophobic hostility all around would you have openly stated that you were gay, when there was a switch blade across your Adam’s apple? I don’t think so. That is what professional athletes who are gay feel like in America. Tied to a split- rail fence. With a knife held to their throat. That’s why Amaechi held his wisdom and tongue all these years. He would have been dead professionally, if he had admitted that he was homosexual. Nobody wants to die, either personally or professionally. That is why Amaechi stayed silent. So the gay folk who are bashing Amaechi had better do a rethink on their criticisms. It’s easy to talk…… getting pistol whipped by society till you lose professional consciousness is something else.
And on the other half of the court, bouncing the ball of bigotry and eying the hoop of hate where they slam dunk their misconceptions are people like Tim Hardaway, retired “killer crossover” basketball star who played with great distinction as Guard with the Miami Heat. His comments about homosexuality, when quizzed about Amaechi being gay stunned the world. Now of course, his personality and the hatred that it encompasses have to be viewed with an understanding that what he said mirrors many voices in the NBA that has been camouflaged for many years. Hardaway’s, bigotry is not an isolated voice blowing in the wind. What he said exists in many forms not only in basketball but other professional sport as well. Trash talking jive and hard knocks. Come on son, be a man. The underlying theme here is, if you are homosexual, you are not man enough. You are a girlie man. You do not possess the required machismo, testosterone and rough edges. How difficult is it today in America to accept another human being based on good or bad without his or her sexual preference coloring the personality profile? Very difficult, it appears. Does being homosexual automatically make you a bad human being? Does being homosexual automatically make you a predatory animal? Don’t drag religion into this because the moment you do, the discussion begins to form concentric shapes of stubborn dogma and misinterpreted scriptures. “Going round and round in circles,” Confucius once said.
Back to Tim Hardaway.After Amaechi published his book ‘Man In The Middle,’ Hardaway was asked about it on a radio talk show in Miami where Hardaway lives. The former Miami Heat guard said on a Fox affiliate radio station WSVN. “You know I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States. First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don’t think that is right. I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room. Something has to give. If you have twelve other ballplayers in your locker room that’s upset and can’t concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court or whatever, it’s going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate.”
Reaction was swift. NBA commissioner David Stern kicked Hardaway off the All Star events being held at Las Vegas and Hardaway flew home to Miami and apologized. “Yes, I regret it,” he said. “I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said I hate gay people or anything like that. That was my mistake.”
Amaechi of course dismissed his apology and stated that there should be more continued conversation on the subject. But Hardaway had lit the fire and his apology was lost in the heat. Amaechi stated that there were many gay players currently playing in the NBA who were terrified of admitting their sexuality because of people like Tim Hardaway who openly stated in the radio interview that if he, found out a player was gay he would ask that the player be removed from the team.
So what is going to happen now? The chances that current NBA players will come out of the locker room and announce that they are gay are slim. It’s a man’s world in professional sport and if you are homosexual you are suspect. That seems to be the current understanding. Heterosexual fears usually are of a sexual variety, sometimes religious, sometimes both. From close physical proximity in the locker room to butt slapping encouragement on the court, how do you deal with a homosexual colleague? How do you “put a body” on a homosexual ball player? How do you guard a gay player by sticking close to him on court? How do you body slam with him after a steal that leads to a fast break and dunk? How do undress in the locker room when a homosexual player is present? The fear here is purely sexual, the paranoia real. The heterosexual assumption being the homosexual is a predator. Of course there is the religious reaction. Homosexuality is a sin. God says so. End of discussion.
Tim Hardaway may have unwittingly provided the gay community, professional sport and society as a whole with an opening that was a long time coming. At last, somebody came out and said it. Now the problems can be addressed. He has lifted the rug in the locker room. Now is a good time to sweep under the carpet or at least look at what’s underneath.
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