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Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2007-02-07-amaechi_x.htm?csp=34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amaechi
John Amaechi
 
The National Black Justice Coalition proudly congratulates John Amaechi, a former NBA basketball player on his courageous step of coming out as gay. He is scheduled to discuss his sexuality on national television this coming Sunday Feb. 11 and through his autobiography due to be released on Feb. 13.
NBJC proudly includes Amacheci in its month long Black History series honoring highly accomplished Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals past and present. Profiles of other individuals honored this month can be accessed at Black LGBT History.
John Amaechi played for three basketball teams during his five-year NBA career. Amaechi, now 36 will take an even bolder step off the court. He will announce to the world that he is gay on ESPN's Outside the Lines on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007.
The interview coincides with the Feb. 13 release of his autobiography, Man in the Middle, which is published by ESPN Books.
In the book and during his ESPN interview, Amaechi recalled his experiences at the hands of both racism and homophobia while playing closeted in the NBA.
Early life 
The son of a Nigerian father, he was raised in Stockport, England by his English mother. Amaechi moved to the U.S. to play high school basketball at St. John's High School in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing college basketball at Vanderbilt but transferred to Penn State where he was a two-time First Team Academic All-American selection.
Playing career 
The 6' 10", 270 lbs center was signed undrafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995. He played 28 games for the Cavaliers during the 1995-1996 season, then played for three years in Europe before signing with the Orlando Magic in 1999. With a solid 1999-2000 season, where he averaged 10.5 points in 21.1 minutes per contest, he gained fame for scoring the NBA's first points of the new millennium in 2000. Amaechi went on to play for the Utah Jazz from 2001 to 2003.
He was traded to the Houston Rockets midway through his final NBA season in exchange for Glen Rice, and though he was an active player, he did not participate in any games for them.
Amaechi came out of retirement to represent England during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, helping the England national basketball team win the bronze medal.
Broadcasting career 
Amaechi can be seen covering a weekly NBA basketball game aired in the UK on the television channel "Five"
Personal life 
Outside of broadcasting, his main activity is currently the ABC Foundation, a charity which seeks to construct sports centers for children throughout the United Kingdom. The first such facility was built in Manchester, not far from his childhood home of Stockport.
Amaechi will be the first NBA player to publicly speak about his homosexuality, and joins a very short list of males in professional team sports who have come out.
Currently a TV personality in England, Amaechi helps fund the Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester, which encourages children to become involved in sports and their communities.
"I don't think (Amaechi's declaration) will have any effect on his ability to do that," said Cyd Ziegler, the co-founder of Outsports.com, a web site dedicated to the gay influence in sports. "You will have some people who will raise an eyebrow."
Very few male team sports members, and none amongst NBA players, have publicly declared their homosexuality.
Ziegler said he has read an advance copy of Amaechi's book and has spoken with him on the telephone. He gave some insight to Amaechi's upbringing in England, where he was raised by his mother and felt isolated because of his size and his race.
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