NBA

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement adds sexual orientation protection to its non-discrimination, the league has said. According to Michael Bass, NBA Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications: Non-discrimination language was added into the agreement that protects players from discrimination, including based on sexual orientation. The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement adds sexual orientation protection to […]

My latest piece picked up by the Huffington Post is a column about why Rick Welts’ hiring by the Golden State Warriors is the most important gay sports moment this year: While people focus on the travails of athletes, the real power brokers in sports are the guys Welts works with every day. And they've […]

Less than two weeks after openly gay NBA executive Rick Welts left the Phoenix Suns to follow his heart, he’s been hired as president and COO of the Golden State Warriors. This is big, people. It's another sign of the eroding homophobia in sports. It was one thing for Welts to come out. But to […]

Just 24 hours before his final moments as president of the Phoenix Suns, Rick Welts was looking ahead with memories of the years he was afraid to come out of the closet. Having posed hours before for the NOH8 campaign, his role in ameliorating that fear for others was top-of-mind. “Having had no one in […]

Phoenix Suns president Rick Welts, who came out of the closet in May, has resigned as president of the Phoenix Suns. Welts told The Arizona Republic he is leaving to pursue a romantic relationship in Sacramento. The most important thing for me is to get my personal and professional lives better aligned. They’ve probably never […]

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been strangely silent these NBA playoffs, uncharacteristic for a guy who never hesitates to say what’s on his mind. Cuban left his self-imposed cone of silence after the Mavs won their first NBA title, beating the Miami Heat in six games. On "SportsCenter," Cuban let fly with some profanity […]

The verdict is in on “The Decision”: TKO, Dallas in six. The Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA championship, beating the Miami Heat, 105-95, in Game 6 of the Finals. But outside of Dallas, all most people will focus on is the failure of LeBron James to win a championship the year he bailed from […]

If you saw overtime of the Bulls-Heat game last night, I’m wondering if you saw what I saw: Big trouble for the rest of the NBA. Last summer LeBron James talked about winning five…six…seven titles with the Miami Heat. At one point they hovered around .500 and everyone laughed. But that overtime last night was […]

The top two NBA franchises for several years have been the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Now both teams are down, 0-2. While the Celtics had won their first three games against the LeBron James and the Miami Heat this season, they’ve lost their far more important last three games against them. The […]

The biggest news since we last checked in with Kobe Bryant might be that Bryant allegedly told ESPN reporter Lisa Salters he used to beat up kids for teasing gay students, and that he intends to do more on the issue. From Towleroad: I used to beat up a lot of kids even in high […]

The Milwaukee Bucks star pays off a bet by dancing to Lady Gaga (video below), but lest anyone even wonder if he's gay, he tweets this: @SHANCIEE NAw A bet is a bet……… I’M A MAN ABOUT IT!!!! I STILL GOT MORE GIRLIES THEN U The Milwaukee Bucks star pays off a bet by dancing […]

Good for LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. We watch owners, leagues, coaches and general managers maintain so much control over the careers of athletes, it’s nice to see a bunch of guys get together, make decisions for themselves, and grab some control from the powers that be. These three guys have set a […]

It is rare when a team shoots 32.5% from the field and wins an NBA playoff game, let alone Game 7 of the NBA Finals. But that’s what happened to the Los Angeles Lakers, 83-79 winners over the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series that was anything but a classic. The Lakers won a gritty, […]

It will be only the second NBA Finals Game 7 in 15 years, and if you want to see the Celtics play the Lakers Thursday night, you’ll be paying for it. Think Super Bowl prices. On StubHub, the lowest ticket available now is $590. And if you want to sit courtside, you have your choice […]

I was going to start this post with the “there’s still lots of basketball to be played,” but that’s not remotely true. With only a few games left to this NBA season, we are potentially on the verge of a classic NBA Finals. Last night was the epitome of this Finals matchup. The quintessential team […]

Most people expected the Los Angeles Lakers to be in the NBA Finals, but few thought the “aging,” “tired”, “banged-up” Boston Celtics would be their opponent. And after knocking off the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference, the men in green are underdogs again to win their series. You’re currently getting 5/2 odds for […]

Do you think the NFL has a problem with a regularly stronger AFC and a weaker NFC over the last 10 years? Just take a look at the NBA. The Western Conference has dominated the East for the most part for the last decade, but this year the playoff prospects are scary. If the season […]

I had no idea what the term “pause” meant, other than when I pressed the little button on my ipod. But thanks to a college student who emailed us this week, I now know it means “No Homo.” It doesn’t get me riled up, but it’s still interesting. The student had written us because he’s […]

Magic and Isiah famously kissed before games. In an upcoming book, basketball's Magic Johnson blames Isiah Thomas for rumors that Johnson was gay at the time Johnson stunned the world by announcing he was HIV-positive. “Isiah kept questioning people about it,” Magic says in the book “When the Game Was Ours,” written by Johnson, Larry […]

Blake Griffin was the first player selected in the NBA draft (by the L.A. Clippers), and already people are grading each team’s draft. The one grade many gay men can agree on: Minnesota’s selection of Ricky Rubio (right) makes many of us Timberwolves fans. If he plays. Blake Griffin was the first player selected in […]