North Ameri's four biggt pro sports leagu have had only 2 openly gay active players | CNN

Contents:

• NBA RUMORS: JAM HARN TRA TALKS, JOEL EMBIID, PJ TUCKER, RUDY GAY, LAKERS, WARRRS, BUCKS, MORE
• RUMOR: LAKERS, WARRRS AMONG POTENTIAL RUDY GAY SUORS EE AGENCY
• IS RUDY GAY A GOOD F?
• BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL
• REPORT: RUDY GAY WAIVED BY OKC THUNR
• NBA FREE AGENCY RUMORS: LAKERS ONE OF MANY TEAMS EXPECTED TO HAVE INTERT IN RUDY GAY
• A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS
• NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
• JASON COLLS WEIGHS ON CARL NASSIB’S CISN TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY
• 5 NBA TEAMS INTERTED IN SIGNG RUDY GAY
• LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY

NBA RUMORS: JAM HARN TRA TALKS, JOEL EMBIID, PJ TUCKER, RUDY GAY, LAKERS, WARRRS, BUCKS, MORE

NBA Rumors: Jam Harn tra talks, Joel Embiid, PJ Tucker, Rudy Gay, Lakers, Warrrs, Bucks, more. Below is the latt tel gathered by HoopsHype on the Harn tra talks and how they uld affect Joel Embiid and PJ Tucker, ee agency updat on Rudy Gay, Edmond Sumner, and Nerlens Noel, along wh not on the Lakers, Warrrs, Bucks, Mavericks, and more on HoopsHype. Veteran forward Rudy Gay is expected to draw tert om several playoff-liber teams, cludg the Goln State Warrrs, Los Angel Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Chigo Bulls, and New Orleans Pelins, league sourc told HoopsHype.

Gay was healthy last season m a fger jot spra that siled him for two weeks and a member of Utah’s rotatn through most of last season. Recently fishg up his 17th NBA season, Rudy Gay is nearg the end of the le on what has been a remarkable reer.

RUMOR: LAKERS, WARRRS AMONG POTENTIAL RUDY GAY SUORS EE AGENCY

He may not have a champnship rg, nor any All-Star appearanc, but Gay has always been a well-rpected player across this league and he's been one of the most unrappreciated forwards sce beg drafted eighth overall 2006. A member of the Memphis Grizzli, San Anton Spurs, Sacramento Kgs and Toronto Raptors earlier his reer, Gay most recently spent the last two seasons wh the Utah Jazz.

Acrdg to HoopsHype's Michael Stto, the Los Angel Lakers, Goln State Warrrs, Dallas Mavericks, Chigo Bulls, and New Orleans Pelins are all teams Gay is expected to draw tert om now that he is a ee agent.

While his overall productn and mut cled the last two seasons Utah, Gay still managed to average 6.

IS RUDY GAY A GOOD F?

Earlier his reer, Gay was a player who was known for srg at least 20 pots per game and he's always been a dangero mid-range shooter. He's not only someone who will be ready to e off the bench when his number is lled, but Gay n also be a great mentor for young players any team has at the small forward or power forward posns. Very few teams the league are able to have guys wh 17-pl years of NBA experience and this is what Gay brgs to the table at this pot his reer.

Time will tell what anizatn Rudy Gay will ntue his NBA reer wh, as he is not ready to end his basketball journey jt yet. One such piece — and a highly-predictable one, at that — is veteran forward Rudy Gay, who was recently waived by the Oklahoma Cy Thunr, after beg ed as filler two different offseason tras: first when the Utah Jazz shipped him to the Atlanta Hawks the John Colls al, and then when the Hawks sent him to the Thunr the Patty Mills tra. Dpe beg a 17-year veteran — he was drafted one year after Chris Pl, and one pick ahead of Patrick O’Bryant — Gay has never shared an NBA locker room wh any Warrrs.

BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL

Not only have they played (and ached) agast him for years, but Gay was teammat wh Steph Curry and Klay Thompson on the Team USA squad that won gold at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and also teammat wh Curry (and Andre Iguodala) on the gold medal-wng 2010 team. Perhaps most importantly, Gay spent four seasons — four recent seasons, crilly — playg for the San Anton Spurs and Steve Kerr’s mentor, Gregg Popovich.

If the Warrrs are terted Gay, you n bet that Kerr and Pop have talked about , and about how he handled the swch om high-volume starter/srer to veteran bench piece. That is, theory, the biggt benef of Gay: beg a tsty and smart vet that n fill the Iguodala role.

It’s easy to make the se for Gay, sce the Warrrs rotatn seems pretty set as is, wh an 11-player rotatn of Curry, Pl, Thompson, Wiggs, Green, Kumga, Moody, Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, Dar Šarić, and Cory Joseph.

REPORT: RUDY GAY WAIVED BY OKC THUNR

There’s also a cent chance that Gay go unsigned, and that the Dubs uld brg him to trag mp on a non-guaranteed al to get a better look at him. When John Amaechi me out publicly 2007, he was ahead of his time, sharg that he’s gay and a former profsnal basketball player. Sce Colls showed the world you uld be a gay man profsnal basketball, there has been a trickle of gay athlet to follow, most recently former NBA player and current Atralian pro basketball player Isaac Humphri.

Longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed to Yahoo Sports Sunday night that he is gay, makg him the send openly gay active NBA official after Vlet Palmer's announcement 2014. "I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man, " Kennedy told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night. Source: NBA referee Bill Kennedy reveals he is gay; Rajon Rondo ma alleged homosexual slur to him - Yahoo Sports.

NBA FREE AGENCY RUMORS: LAKERS ONE OF MANY TEAMS EXPECTED TO HAVE INTERT IN RUDY GAY

OutSports spoke wh an openly gay high school ach for his reactn, which summed up the announcement well:. "I thk any time someone n be out at the top of their profsn 's a w, " out gay high school basketball ach Anthony Nimo told Outsports. Source: NBA referee Bill Kennedy out as gay after Rajon Rondo lled him gay slurs - Outsports.

Yahoo Sports reveals that Rondo's one-game spensn was the rult of a tira that clud the Kgs guard's e of homophobic slurs towards Kennedy.

A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS

Adam Silver said 2014 that he felt the league "fell behd" on the issue, even wh Jason Colls' announcement several years ago that he was an active gay NBA player.

“Unrstand the succs I had my rookie year and then the stagnant play or the tough road I had a ltle b my sophomore season.

NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS

The Oklahoma Cy Thunr roster shnk on Wednday as they waived veteran forward Rudy Gay, per The Athletic’s Shams was set to make $6. 8 ln trim cuts the Thunr’s roster to 20 players on the ma roster, which is near the 21 allowed durg the 56 gam wh the Utah Jazz last season, Gay averaged 5.

Now, another veteran name has bee available, though he is not what anyone would nsir an actual big man, Rudy Gay.

JASON COLLS WEIGHS ON CARL NASSIB’S CISN TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY

After beg trad a uple tim this offseason, Gay was released by the Oklahoma Cy Thunr and is now a ee agent. He may not f the mold of what the Lakers need most, but Gay has proven to be an effective forward who n still sre the ball his later years. The ncern wh brgg someone like Gay is that the Lakers already have a number of players who play the same posn as he is basilly a power forward at this stage.

Wh LeBron Jam, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanrbilt and Trean Prce already the fold, feels as if Gay would be more of a veteran prence than someone who would really make a difference on the urt. The prry for the Lakers is surely still to brg a big man, but if they are unable to e to terms wh the right one, a reliable veteran like Gay is far om the worst kd of player they n sign.

While there may be tert Gay, the Lakers have already brought a 3-and-D bo forward the form of Prce. When Jason Colls revealed he was gay seven years ago, was a historic announcement that seemgly shifted the nversatn about homophobia profsnal male team sports. There is not an active openly gay player the NBA or any of the other Amerin major male profsnal leagu: the NFL, MLB and NHL.

5 NBA TEAMS INTERTED IN SIGNG RUDY GAY

While Colls regniz there is still a lot of work to be done, he says ’s helpful to be able to pot to the lany of star openly gay profsnal athlet, om Megan Rapoe to Robbie Rodgers.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg recently beme the first openly gay ndidate Amerin history to earn printial primary legat toward a major party’s nomatn procs. If an openly gay printial ndidate n thrive the rough world of polics — even garnerg support om some nservative Republins agast homophobic sults — then seems like only a matter of time before another NBA player out. The ments are among 78 tweets om 36 current and active NBA players on teams that are homophobic language, nature or even tent (four other players were on a roster when the list was piled last month, but they are no longer on an NBA team).

LAKERS AMONG TEAMS LKED TO RUDY GAY

The players clu CJ McCollum, the print of the Natnal Basketball Players Assn., who tweeted “no homo, ” as well as superstar Kev Durant, who tweeted “shut up fag boy. “I don’t re how long ago was, shows the person’s character, my opn, ” said Derrick Gordon, who me out publicly as gay while playg basketball at UMass and who now plays profsnally Germany.

“It was shockg but not surprisg, ” Chris said of the number of homophobic tweets he found. “The culture of homophobia sports ns very ep, pecially a hyper-mascule league like the NBA. Beg a big NBA fan, Chris cid to check the acunts of some of his favore players and found var homophobic tweets.

From his rearch: “Fag” showed up 29 tweets, “gay” 40 (and not plimentary), and the phrase “no homo” 17. The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz each have four players on the list of NBA athlet who created anti-gay tweets, while the Chigo Bulls currently have three players who tweeted homophobic msag.