Zeke Thomas (Zeke was Isiah’s nickname) who is an openly gay DJ, who did a pretty extensive interview with OUT.com about his sexuality, being afraid to come out, what is like being gay when you are the son of a legendary athlete and how he has been discriminated against.
During one part of the interview gays in the NBA came up and if the NBA was “gay friendly” here is what he had to say.
I do. When Jason Collins came out, my father said to me, “This isn’t something uncommon.” He played with gay players. He said, “Even in high school, I knew there were gay athletes.” It’s not as big an issue as the media like to make it out: “You’re gonna be shamed in the locker room!”
I agree, Jason Collins was paraded around like a hero, but the reality is that the media and public made it into a lot bigger deal than it was.
Using common sense and simple math, you would know that there are quite a few gay athletes in all professional sports and their teammates know.
If they choose to keep that to themselves, we should respect that. Some players would rather be known for what the do on the field/court than in the bedroom.