Gay basketball players in the nba
Welcome to my annual Who’s Gay in the WNBA Report! For those of you who are novel, every year I part down the list of athletes who are openly queer in the league. As a queer person who has played basketball my entire life, the off-court drama is always equally as exciting as the on-court display of skills. Knowing who’s same-sex attracted and who’s dating who only adds to that for me. If you’re more of a pure viewer of the game and prefer only knowing what’s going on while the clock is running, I do regularly form WNBA TikToks that I like to think are pretty informative!
The league is well known to own some of the foremost pre-game walk-up outfits in all of professional sports, so you’re missing out if you don’t track at least the @wnba account on Instagram. Here’s a complete list of all out gay players in the league, broken down by team. For my purposes, “Out” means confirmed by the player either in an interview or on their social media. No matter how masculine presenting someone is, I will not be speculating!
Last Updated: 6/27/25
Las Vegas Aces
The Aces are a very wonderful team and as elongated as A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray are both there they’ll always acquire a shot at
BY: Zaniah Boykin
Published 5 months ago
The street to LGBTQIA+ noticeability in sports has been a extended and bumpy one, especially in professional basketball. For years, the NBA and other major leagues were slow to embrace openly male lover players, but things are changing. Today, more athletes are stepping up, living their truth, and making basketball a more inclusive vacuum. The courage of these players is shifting the identity and inspiring future generations. Let’s accept a look at some of the most notable gay basketball players who have helped steer this evolution.
1. Jason Collins
In 2013, Collins made history as the first openly gay player in the NBA while playing for the Brooklyn Nets. At a time when few athletes in any sport had come out, Collins’ bravery was a game-changer for LGBTQIA+ visibility in professional sports. His courage paved the way for others, and since retiring, he has continued to advocate for equality. Collins remains among the most vital figures in the LGBTQIA+ rights movement within professional athletics.
2. Brittney Griner
Brittney Griner is one of the most high-profile openly gay basketball players ever. Acknowledged as a dominant force in the W
This piece is primarily motivated by a list of currently out LGBT players in the NBA:
It’s quite a list. It’s why the Suns’ Ryan Resch - their vice president of basketball strategy and evaluation, in case you didn’t know - made headlines when he came out this June. I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes a bit. But in a sport where literally zero of the ~450 players are out, it was newsworthy. It also spurred the following, admittedly belated reflection the state of LGBT representation in men’s basketball, with a spotlight on the Bucks’ Pride Night.
Let’s start by placing the issue of LGBT representation in context. The NBA is one of several professional men’s sports leagues in the United States. The US has been increasingly accepting of LGBT folks, although the trajectory has been rockier for transgender individuals. However, acceptance is far from 100%, with recent evidence including Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill (and a variety of copycats around the country) and three-quarters of the Republican members of the House voting against a bill codifying gay marriage into law. Unfortunately, there remains plenty of justification for not wanting to be out in the US; charge should not decline
Phoenix Suns' Ryan Resch first openly gay person in NBA team's basketball operations
Ryan Resch of the Phoenix Suns is the first openly gay person in NBA history to work in a team's basketball operations, ESPN reported Saturday.
The article details how Resch, the Suns' vice president of basketball strategy and evaluation, came out to General Manager James Jones, who is considered a mentor of his, this past winter and then later to the team staff.
"Ultimately my target is to normalize for people in and out the league the existence of gay men and women on the basketball side," Resch said in the article.
In 2011, Rick Welts, who was the Suns' president and CEO at the time, came out as gay. He was then considered the first man in a prominent position in men's sports to reach out as gay. He was part of the team's business-side operations.
In an article written by the New York Times, Welts said he had a aim to mentor other gay people looking to pursue a career in sports.
Need a break? Perform the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle."This is one of the last industries where the subject is off-limits," Welts told the newspaper. "Nobody's comfortable in engaging in a conversation."