LeBron James on John Amaechi

[Elliotte Friedman]

I'm sorry, but the "give LeBron James a break because he's only 22" angle does not work here. Anyone who has ever dealt with him knows how media-savvy the guy is. The guy is mature much beyond his years.

To me, his quote on this issue is a rare letting down of the guard for him. All of the media training in the world could not prepare him for this. It's a question he never could have expected and he answered it honestly. He couldn't put up his "media-preparation" shield.

Now, that doesn't mean he deserves to be incinerated. He's not comfortable with the idea, and he was honest about it. Personally, I don't care at all that John Amaechi is gay. But James does. I'm with whoever pointed out that you can't whine about people who never answer honestly and then trash those who do.

What James said really isn't that bad. It's his truth: He isn't comfortable with the idea. But to say he deserves to be excused because he's only 22 is ridiculous. This is not your average 22-year-old. This is a polished, media-trained, mature-beyond-his-years young man. He knew exactly what he was saying.

 

[outofplace]

Ok, just for argument's sake, what all have you heard? I mean, I've never heard anything along those lines about ANY professional athlete, until they have seven kids by seven women.

I have no idea, for instance, how Dwyane Wade acts. Or Tayshaun Prince. Or (etc., etc.). And since before today I had not even heard the name John Amaechi since he was at Penn State, I doubt I'd have been able to make an inference. But if his teammates and those close didn't know this, it's likely because he went out of his way for them not to.

So, you just assume he acted in a way that would back up your argument. Like I said. A very thin branch.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

The worst part of the "shower" problem is the huge assumption that just because a guy is attracted to other guys he's going to be checking out other guys. Get over yourself, they are attracted to those who share the same wiring. Its no different than the Lisa Olsen issue which apparently has not killed professional sports in the past 20 years (?).

If a woman is in a shower with me, I'm checking her out.

Ooooohhhh... what a pig I am!

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

The worst part of the "shower" problem is the huge assumption that just because a guy is attracted to other guys he's going to be checking out other guys. Get over yourself, they are attracted to those who share the same wiring. Its no different than the Lisa Olsen issue which apparently has not killed professional sports in the past 20 years (?).

OK....

So, then, why would a woman, say if the tennis tour was under one umbrella, object to taking a shower with men?

Don't you dare say she wouldn't.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

F_B, the use of the word "admit" is unfortunate, but, in my opinion, not sinister. I think he used it as a synonym of "reveal."

Sorry, but "admit" has a very different meaning in this context.

It has a different meaning if you're a writer and words are your thing. If you're a regular person, not necessarily.

The trouble is, we NEVER want to give anybody the benefit of the doubt in anything they say.

It's so much easier to mock them and feel superior.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Well, I don't have anything to go on other than assumptions. I'm not counting anything as fact here. It's just a discussion. You don't know any more than I do, but I'll give you credit for your point of view.

Elliott: I don't think LeBron cares that he's gay. I think he cares that he went out of his way to hide it. Which is, in fact, dishonest, no matter how you slice it.

Some things are no one's business.

"Hey guys, great shootaround today. I like men in a sexual way."

"Hey dude with locker next to mine, I really enjoy banging women."

They play basketball together. As Shaq and Kobe (and Magic and Kareem) showed, you don't have to be buddies to play winning basketball, and you certainly don't need to share how you spend your nights.

Also, Friedman is dead on. We can't laud LeBron james for being so media savvy, and then make excuses when he says something dumb. Is his statement homophobic? I would say it's just more dumb than anything else.

"Hey man, I'm not passing you the ball unless you tell me which way you swing sexually!"

Who the heck cares what the guy does away from the court, as long as he works his ass off on it?

 

[Boom_70]

This is the real-life version of the movie "School Ties," when Brendan Fraser's Jewish character says "You never told me what religion you are," and after the kid tells him he's Methodist, Fraser responds, "Methodist. And all this time I didn't know it."

Right or wrong, everbody is assumed to be in the majority until it's learned otherwise. And by not "admitting" it, to use LeBron's word, Amaechi was in a way perpetuating a lie. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that "not admitting" it was not the only way he did this. He probably went out with the guys, leered at women, made sexist comments, etc., to fit in with the rest of the "normal" people.

Amaechi had plenty of reasons to keep it a secret, given the culture in which he was working. Can't say I blame him. But the bottom line is, he was still dishonest.

As for LeBron, the guy is 22 and small change. He'd be a senior in college had he gone. I love how all the sanctimonious people on here conveniently forget a 22-year-old's ability to do and say stupid things. I know I did and said them, almost daily (yes, yes, I know, I still do). I'd cut the kid a break, personally. His choice of words was poor, but he doesn't have the advantage of the delete key, and once it's out there, it's out there.

Interesting - question- is a sport writer being dishonest to their readers if they are writing a column blasting James his comments but not disclosing that they are gay themselves?

If they did disclose that little fact would it give column greater credibility?

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Boom --
1) No.
2) Yes.
Tough decision for the columnist, though.

 

[Blog Is My Co-Pilot]

To recap. . .

We, as media, make a huge deal about a former NBA player coming out of the closet. We lead newscasts and web sites with it, write stories and columns about it, like an alien has landed in professional sports.

Yet when asked to comment on the situation, and an athlete says something other than "It's no big deal," we make a big deal out of that.

If it isn't a big deal, than why are we covering it?

And if it is a big deal, then why the moral indignation when an athlete says it is?

 

[Oz]

Elliott: I don't think LeBron cares that he's gay. I think he cares that he went out of his way to hide it. Which is, in fact, dishonest, no matter how you slice it.

Do we know he lied about his sexuality? Did we know if teammates asked why they never saw him around women? Did he say anything more than, "I'm not interested in her, she's not my type," to teammates?

I haven't seen the interviews, and obviously none of us have read the book yet, but there are ways to give some honest answers without explicitly revealing that he's gay. Maybe he never had to go out of his way to hide it.

Just playing devil's advocate here.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

To recap. . .

We, as media, make a huge deal about a former NBA player coming out of the closet. We lead newscasts and web sites with it, write stories and columns about it, like an alien has landed in professional sports.

Yet when asked to comment on the situation, and an athlete says something other than "It's no big deal," we make a big deal out of that.

If it isn't a big deal, than why are we covering it?

And if it is a big deal, then why the moral indignation when an athlete says it is?

Nice summation.

 

[Boobie Miles]

Elliott: I don't think LeBron cares that he's gay. I think he cares that he went out of his way to hide it. Which is, in fact, dishonest, no matter how you slice it.

Do we know he lied about his sexuality? Did we know if teammates asked why they never saw him around women? Did he say anything more than, "I'm not interested in her, she's not my type," to teammates?

I haven't seen the interviews, and obviously none of us have read the book yet, but there are ways to give some honest answers without explicitly revealing that he's gay. Maybe he never had to go out of his way to hide it.

Just playing devil's advocate here.

I was thinking that too.

And to go further who has said definitively that none of his former teammates knew? Maybe some of them wondered but never made a big deal about it, and now they've found out that he is.