International Nigerian Gay Basketballer Becomes First NBA Player To Come Out

This are the times that we live in,

John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi is a half-Nigerian, half British retired basketball player who currently works as an educator and broadcaster in Europe and the United States.

The son of a Nigerian, Igbo father Amaechi was born in Boston in the US. He was raised by his English mother in Heaton Moor, Stockport, England, with his two younger sisters.

He first played basketball at the age of 17, coached by Joe Forber, whom he describes as a father figure.

In a revelation that shook the National Basketball Association (NBA), the former player John Amaechi became the first professional basketball player to openly identify himself as gay.

Amaechi, who played at Penn State and spent five seasons in the NBA with Orlando, Utah and Cleveland, revealed his gender partner preference in a book titled "Man in the Middle".

Three years after his playing career ended, Amaechi becomes the sixth professional male athlete from one of the four major American sports (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL) to publicly discuss his homosexuality.

He has since been regarded as "one of the world's most high-profile gay athletes". 

City People