John Amaechi

John Ekwugha Amaechi (born November 26, 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a former NBA basketball player who currently works as a broadcaster in England.

Early life

The son of a Nigerian father, he was raised in Stockport, England by his English mother. Amaechi moved to the U.S. to play high school basketball at St. John's High School in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing college basketball at Vanderbilt but transferred to Penn State where he was a two-time First Team Academic All-American selection.

Playing career

The 6' 10", 270 lbs center was signed undrafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995. He played 28 games for the Cavaliers during the 1995-1996 season, then played for three years in Europe (France: Cholet, Limoges; Italy: Kinder Bologna; Greece: Panathinaikos; England: Sheffield Sharks) before signing with the Orlando Magic in 1999. With a solid 1999-2000 season, where he averaged 10.5 points in 21.1 minutes per contest, he gained fame for scoring the NBA's first points of the new millennium in 2000. Amaechi went on to play for the Utah Jazz from 2001 to 2003.

He was traded to the Houston Rockets midway through his final NBA season in exchange for Glen Rice, and though he was an active player, he did not participate in any games for them.

Amaechi came out of retirement to represent England during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, helping the England national basketball team win the bronze medal.

Broadcasting career

Amaechi can be seen covering a weekly NBA basketball game aired in the UK on the television channel "Five".

Personal life

Outside of broadcasting, his main activity is currently the ABC Foundation, a charity which seeks to construct sports centers for children throughout the United Kingdom. The first such facility was built in Manchester, not far from his childhood home of Stockport.

In February 2007, it was announced that Amaechi would come out of the closet as a gay man on the February 11 edition of ESPN's Outside the Lines program. He is also scheduled to release a forthcoming book, Man in the Middle, which discusses his career and life as a closeted professional athlete.

Amaechi would be the first NBA player to publicly declare his homosexuality and join a very short list of males in professional team sports who have come out.

The book is entitled "Man in the Middle" and is published by ESPN Books. Amaechi's declaration in the book was reported Wednesday February 7th on ESPN.com, and he will appear on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Sunday, February 11th at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Currently a TV personality in England, Amaechi helps fund the Amaechi Basketball Center in Manchester, which encourages children to become involved in sports and their communities.

"I don't think (Amaechi's declaration) will have any effect on his ability to do that," said Cyd Ziegler, the co-founder of Outsports.com, a web site dedicated to the gay influence in sports. "You will have some people who will raise an eyebrow."

Very few male team sports members have publicly declared their homosexuality. Among them are former NFL players Esera Tuaolo, Roy Simmons, Dave Kopay and Jerry Smith and former baseball players Glenn Burke and Billy Bean.

Ziegler said he has read an advance copy of Amaechi's book and spoken with him on the telephone. He gave some insight to Amaechi's upbringing in England, where he was raised by his mother and felt isolated because of his size and black race.

External links

• John Amaechi's Official Website
• Amaechi's career stats at www.basketball-reference