5 NBA players who support the LGBTQ movement featuring Kevin Durant, Charles Barkley, and more

Charles Barkley and Kevin Durant have been two of NBA history’s most outspoken supporters of gay athletes and the LGBTQ community. In a society that unfairly puts a stigma on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other such individuals, their support has been happily embraced.

The backing from the NBA community, fortunately, has not been limited to Barkley and KD only. There have been others who have been just as open and staunch in their support for one of the most marginalized societies in America.

Here are five former NBA players who have been actively advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ community:

#5 Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant’s place on this list might not make some basketball fans happy. Last year, the Brooklyn Nets superstar and Michael Rapaport had a very nasty public spat. The actor posted on Twitter several anti-gay slurs from the former MVP.

Durant, however, admitted he was wrong and apologized.

Before the incident, KD was known to be a supporter of LGBTQ. Back in 2017, during the NBA’s Pride Parade in New York City, Durant went full blast in his support of high-profile homosexuals.

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KD tweeted out his backing of the NBA’s LGBTQ community. Basketball fans will likely be keeping a close eye on Durant following the Rapaport incident. If he is somehow linked to homophobic slurs, it could mean that his support is nothing but a mere show.

#4 Jason Collins

Jason Collins was the first active player to reveal he was gay. [photo: SI]

Jason Collins played in the NBA for more than a decade and averaged only 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his 13-year career. He played for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards. Collins mostly found himself on the deep end of the bench, barely getting noticed by fans and opponents.

Collins’ anonymity completely changed when he revealed he was gay. It wasn’t just the NBA that was stunned by the revelation but the entire sporting world. Collins became the first active player from a major sports league in the US to admit he was gay.

With the Stanford alumnus revealing he was a homosexual, the sports world was forced to tackle the delicate issue of gay athletes within their ranks.

Collins wrote a moving piece on Sports Illustrated about his struggles. It perfectly captured what most gay and lesbian communities go through in their lives. Collins said:

“It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. I've endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew. And yet when I acknowledged my sexuality I felt whole for the first time.”

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#3 Steve Nash

Cleveland Cavaliers v Brooklyn Nets - Play-In Tournament

Before Jason Collins stunned the NBA and the sporting world with his admission of being gay, Steve Nash was already advocating gender equality. Nash was already a two-time MVP when he appeared in a video supporting gay and lesbian marriages.

Nash staunchly supported the LGBTQ community, when Kevin Durant was still settling into his NBA career. At that point, KD’s voice wasn’t nearly as impactful as Nash's. Durant was only a two-time All-Star when “Nashty” offered his unequivocal support for homosexuals.

The Canadian superstar was the first high-profile athlete to support former Phoenix Suns team president Rick Welts, who admitted he was a homosexual. The former MVP’s explicit backing of gays and lesbians was in sharp contrast to some players who were indisputably LGBTQ.

Unknowingly, Steve Nash’s clear-cut support for the LGBTQ community helped paved the way for future NBA players and athletes to reveal their true sexual orientations. He was a crucial reason why Collins and John Amaechi would end all pretensions about being homosexual.

#2 John Amaechi

John Amaechi played a few seasons in the NBA and admitted he was gay four years after retirement. [photo: The Times]

John Amaechi could easily be 1B on this list given his significance in the sporting world’s LGBTQ.

In 2007, four years after he retired from the NBA, the big man released a book entitled “Man in the Middle.”

Long rumored to be gay, Amaechi finally admitted to the truth when asked about the reason behind the publication of his book:

“I am not a hero nor am I special in any regard. I am simply doing what a good person of conscience would do, which is making people aware that gay people don’t just look like Jack from ‘Will and Grace,’ and that they don’t want to jump your bones every occasion and that some are camp and some are butch and that we’re different and we’re useful and we are here.”

John Amaechi, a star at Penn State where he was named to two First Team Academic All-American, went undrafted in 1995. He played only five years in the NBA, two each with the Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz and one with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Many already had suspicions that he was homosexual, including former Jazz teammate Greg Ostertag, who reportedly asked him point black if the rumors were true. Amaechi would later reveal that he regretted not admitting the truth to his friend, who he thought would have completely understood him.

#1 Charles Barkley

2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony

Over the last few years, Charles Barkley’s support of the LGBTQ community is perhaps the loudest and easily the most interesting. “Sir Charles” previously and controversially stated that he wasn’t a “role model.”

That hasn’t proven to be the case when it comes to advocating for equal rights for gays and lesbians. The public was first made aware of Barkley’s opinion on the matter when he urged the NBA to relocate the All-Star game from North Carolina.

Several of the state’s laws were simply discriminating against LGBTQ people. This is what he told CNN in an interview back in 2017:

"As a black person, I’m against any form of discrimination — against whites, Hispanics, gays, lesbians, however you want to phrase it.

This year, he would double down on his comments in more colorful words that only Charles Barkley can get away with:

“If you’re gay or transgender, I love you. Hey, and if anybody gives you shit, you tell ’em, Charles said, ‘F**k you!’”

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