Cuban Says Openly Gay Player Would Clean Up

[GreenBat]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?i...000000000000000

Updated: Feb. 12, 2007, 10:03 AM ET

Cuban says openly gay player would clean up

ESPN.com news services

Mark Cuban might be the Mavericks owner, but he thinks an openly gay

NBA player would be a trail blazer, and a rich one at that.

"From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay

and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it

would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and

an endorsement perspective," Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for

Monday's edition. "You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than

you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket.

"On the flip side, if you're the idiot who condemns somebody because they're

gay, then you're going to be ostracized, you're going to be picketed and

you're going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have."

Cuban was reacting to the announcement by former NBA player John Amaechi

that he is gay. The controversial Mavs owner praised Amaechi.

"When you do something that the whole world thinks is difficult and you

stand up and just be who you are and take on that difficulty factor, you're

an American hero no matter what," Cuban told the paper. "That's what

the American spirit's all about, going against the grain and standing up

for who you are, even if it's not a popular position."

[Quoner]

"It's something I'd have to evaluate. You take showers together, you're on the bus, you talk about things. With teammates, you have to be trustworthy. If you're gay and you're not admitting that you are, you're not trustworthy. It's the locker room code; it's a trust factor." - Lebron James

"For real? He's gay for real? Nowadays it's proven that people can live double lives. I watch a lot of TV, so I see a lot of sick perverted stuff about married men running around with gay guys and all types of foolishness." - Steven Hunter, 76ers

"As long as you don't bring your gayness on me, I'm fine." Shavlick Randolph (I just know he played at Duke, he's probably mad its not a gay white guy like he's used to)

Yup, looks like the league will handle this pretty classy-like. On the other hand, Shavlick Randolph probably sums up the feelings of 95% of this board....

[Coffee and TV]

I think it would be a positive effect on the gay community, but I don't see how they'd earn more status or money with the average or casual NBA fan...

[Green Mean]

I'm one of LBJ's biggest fans but I am going to have to disagree with him here. I myself am not gay however admiting you are gay while you are a pretty successful American athlete I think would be extremely hard to do. Theres just too much testosterone and masculinity associated with these people and sports that its almost like its not expected. How can there be trust when you know if you come out and say you are gay then the whole world will have eyes on you and your colleagues and peers will look at you and judge you differently? I dont know I just think that that I dont blame Amaechi and that Carolina Panthers guy for coming out after their playing days cuz I think it would just be very very difficult and go through and swallow.

[Quoner]

ESPN is covering this story like the president has been shot, but I guess I stand corrected for ever calling the UTEP Two-Step gay sounding...

And to think, the Mavericks totally had this guy on their team once!

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sport...miherald_sports

http://www.790theticket.com/audioplayer.ph...otz&id=2087

Also taking bets on who will make the first, "you know, not to sound mean, but I really don't see what the big deal is" post...

Edited February 15, 2007 by Quoner

[greenminer]

Also taking bets on who will make the first, "you know, not to sound mean, but I really don't see what the big deal is" post...

I didn't think it was a big deal, until Hardaway opened his mouth. He just dug himself into a hole and as far as I care he could be buried in sh*t for comments like that. He has been a torch bearer for UTEP bball since he walked the court in Minerdome, and it'll be interesting to see what the Miner faithful say about all this.

perhaps Hardaway just determined how the current NBA players are going to react.

[Quoner]

I didn't think it was a big deal, until Hardaway opened his mouth. He just dug himself into a hole and as far as I care he could be buried in sh*t for comments like that. He has been a torch bearer for UTEP bball since he walked the court in Minerdome, and it'll be interesting to see what the Miner faithful say about all this.

perhaps Hardaway just determined how the current NBA players are going to react.

I didn't think the story was big either - just loved that Hardaway was the guy to open his mouth. I hated the Heat back when he was helping Riley start fights to win playoff series against the Knicks, I hated that he Mavs ever employed him, and I love that he looks like an ass right now.

My comment was waiting for someone here to agree with him...just to clarify.