ESPN's Outside the Lines with gay retired NBA player John Amaechi

Much is being made about retired NBA player John Amaechi's coming out and the reaction surrounding it. Naturally every player and coach is being asked their opinion and responses have ranged all over the place from the supportive to the homophobic to the just plain stupid. NBA Commissioner David Stern, said:

We have a very diverse league. The question at the NBA is always, 'Have you got game.' That's it, end of inquiry.

Retired player Charles Barkley and coach Doc Rivers also clearly landed in the enlightened camp offering up supportive comments. What about current players? Grant Hill (pictured below, right) of the Orlando Magic, said:

The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retired.

On the opposite end of the spectrum were the twits worried a gay player might come on to them. Shavlik Randolph of the Philadelphia '76ers is one of those religious sorts who likes to bring it up all the time. His thoughts on a gay player?

As long as you don't bring your gayness on me, I'm fine.

I guess he's worried a gay player might try to give him a make-over. Or perhaps "gayness" is a euphemism for something else. Added Steven Hunter, also of the 76ers:

As long as he don't make any advances toward me, I'm fine with it. As long as he came to play basketball like a man and conducted himself as a good person, I'd be fine with it.

Good grief. But the dumbest comment of all came from Lebron James (pictured below, left) who felt that a gay player who didn't come to his teammates was violating their trust.

With teammates you have to be trustworthy, and if you're gay and you're not admitting that you are, then you are not trustworthy.

Hey, Lebron, when you retire why not consider a career in stand-up comedy. You're a total crack-up. So how did the ESPN show handle the topic? So-so, I thought. I don't watch the show on a regular basis, so I don't know how often women cover stories, but I was curious about the decision to have a woman cover the "gay" segment. (Plus, she didn't exactly strike me as the sharpest reporter. I also thought it odd how quickly the segment got to Amaechi's first sexual experience as if that is the most important/defining thing about a gay person. The rest of the segment was fine, if no great shakes. We got mostly pro-commentary from players and now that I think about it, I appreciate we didn't have to listen to the idiotic homophobes offer up their two cents worth. (On the other hand, folks need to know what those fools are saying.) John has done a good thing here and here is hoping he's pushed us a little closer toward the day none of this will matter.