David Stern's airball

Sports Media Review has a few days worth of discussion on John Amaechi's revelation that he is a retired NBA player and a gay man.

Meanwhile, Sports on My Mind offers a review of player, coach, & Commish reaction to the news on Amaechi.

Specifically, Commissioner Stern has this to say.

“We have a very diverse league. The question at the N.B.A. is always, ‘Have you got game?’ That’s it, end of inquiry.”

It's goofy how disingenuous this statement is. Stern has presided over some recent rule changes that are decidedly not about the question "Have you got game?" In fact, the implementation of an age-limit runs counter to Stern's logic. Prep-to-pro ballers frequently have game; some of them - LeBron, Amare, Dwight, (Durant?) - have game-in-excess. But, at least in this case, that wasn't the end of the inquiry.

Briefly, two additional critiques of Stern's public statement.

• As proof that "Have you got game?" is not the end of the N.B.A.'s inquiry, I point you to one reality of the N.B.A. - its dance teams - that is (again) decidedly not about the question "Have you got game?" and is (obviously) about other, more messy questions, such as gender in sports, (hetero)sexuality in sports, etc.
  
• While it is important that all players, regardless of race, class, religion, sexuality, get a fair shake in the league, this is only part of the discussion. The excerpts of Amaechi's book indicate that he had a mixed experience in the league. Certain players - namely Greg Ostertag and AK47 made Amaechi's time in the league bearable, others (Amaechi names coach Jerry Sloan as one of those others) did not. The conversations journalists, players, and bloggers are having about Amaechi are generally not about whether gay men should be allowed to play in the league, which, if that was our question, Stern's statement would be an adequate response. Rather, people are wondering about the personal, psychological, & social costs of being gay in the N.B.A., as well as the possible hostilities and acts of generosity that a publicly gay N.B.A. player might experience.
  

peace love gap
Johnny Hatchett