NBA executive comes out in the NY Times

[canmark]

Posted: 5/15/11 at 3:43pm

Rick Welts, president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns, has come out in the NY Times.

"Last month, in a Midtown office adorned with sports memorabilia, two longtime friends met for a private talk. David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, sipped his morning coffee, expecting to be asked for career advice. Across from him sat Rick Welts, the president and chief executive of the Phoenix Suns, who had come to New York not to discuss careers, but to say, finally, I am gay."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/sports/basketball/nba-executive-says-he-is-gay.html?_r=1&ref=sports

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/15/11 at 3:48pm

Between this, Steve Nash, and the fact the entire team last year wore Los Suns jerseys in the wake of the Arizona Immigration law, the Suns are becoming my de facto NBA team.

[canmark]

Posted: 5/17/11 at 8:31pm

Video interview with TIME magazine: Rick Welts, Phoenix Suns CEO, on Why He Came Out

Interesting the reaction (or non-reaction) from Bill Russell:

Q: Bill Russell, the NBA legend who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February, is an adviser and friend. What was his reaction when you told him about this?

A: He was the first person that I decided that I was really going to reach out to. I had never been to his house before, and I'd known him for 30 years. But he invited me because he knew there was something kind of important. And walking up to that door was a big moment for me — there he was, in his black athletic suit, with his green hat with a shamrock on it and the number 6. We walked into his TV room and sat in these big comfortable chairs where he watches his TV. Barack Obama's picture is sitting right next to me, with his inscription to Bill saying what an inspiration he had been to the President. I took a deep breath and said what I had to say.

And he was, you know, he was Bill. "Was that all you got?" He said all the right things about our friendship and what it meant to him, and nothing could change, and anything he could do to be supportive. That was the first person in my work life that I had been able to have that conversation with.


http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2071898,00.html

==========

Edit to add: Rick Weltz on Eliot Spitzer's show on CNN:
http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/17/nba-executive-rick-welts-comes-out-gay/

Updated On: 5/18/11 at 08:31 PM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/17/11 at 9:23pm

Jared Dudley and Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns also have a PSA against 'That's So Gay' coming out relating specifically to its use in sports. Go Suns!