While 20% of players in the WNBA are open about their sexuality, there are none in the NBA, and only two have come out in the league’s 75-year history.
Jason Collins was drafted in 2001 at 18th overall by the Houston Rockets. After 12 years in the NBA, he became a free agent. While waiting for a team to sign him, Collins came out as gay in 2013. After coming out, he was signed by the Brooklyn Nets, making him the first, and only, active player to be out.
John Amaechi went undrafted and then signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1995. Amaechi made history by becoming the first undrafted player to start in an NBA game. Twelve years later, he made history again by becoming the first former NBA player to come out as gay. He was the only NBA player to come out as gay until Collins.
The first LGBTQ+ WNBA player to sign to a team was Sheryl Swoopes. Swoopes was signed by the Houston Comets in 1997 and joined the team at the end of the season after the birth of her son. After giving birth, she would help lead her team to win the inaugural WNBA championship. She then led the team to three more consecutive championships. Swoopes became the first woman signed, the first WNBA champion and the second WNBA player to come out as gay.
“I can’t help who I fall in love with, no one can,” Swoopes said in her 2005 announcement. “Discovering I’m gay just sort of happened much later in life.”
Although she came out as gay in 2005, Swoopes married a man in 2017. Swoopes is the perfect example of understanding that people can change their labels. She was in a relationship with a woman from 2005-2011, so even though she may not be gay, she is also definitely not straight.
Sue Wicks was the first WNBA player to come out as gay. She played internationally for 15 years before being drafted by the New York Liberty at sixth overall in the 1997 draft. The Liberty was the other team in the 1997 finals. They were also part of two more championship games in the Comets dynasty. Wicks retired in 2002, making the championship game one more time, losing to the Los Angeles Sparks.
Britney Griner was drafted first overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2013 draft. She became the third WNBA player to dunk in a game, and the only player to do so twice in a single game.
In February 2013, Griner came out as a lesbian during an interview with SI.com. In her second year in the WNBA, Griner won a championship with the Mercury. The Mercury went to the finals again in 2021 but lost to the Chicago Sky 3-1. Although Griner is an incredible basketball player, the biggest story of her career doesn’t involve her skill on the court, it involves Russia.
Griner has been detained in Russia since February 17th because she allegedly had vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Throughout the NBA playoffs, different teams have added court designs or wore t-shirts to show support for Griner. The Phoenix Suns added a decal to their court during their series with the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics wore “We are BG” shirts during warm-ups for a finals game with the Golden State Warriors.
Of the multitude of WNBA players that have come out, one stands out above the rest in terms of popularity.
Sue Bird, who will retire at the end of these season, was drafted first overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2002 draft. Her résumé is one of the best in WNBA history. She is a four-time WNBA champion, 12-time all-star, five-time all-WNBA first team selection and three-time all-WNBA second team selection. She has been listed as a top-10, top-15, top-20, and top-25 player by the WNBA. She leads the league in most seasons, games played, assists, minutes played and all-star appearances. On top of all her accolades in the WNBA, she is a five-time Olympic Gold Medalist.
She came out in 2017, announcing that she had been dating OL Reign winger Megan Rapinoe for several months. The couple got engaged in 2020.
Twenty percent of WNBA players may be open about their sexuality, but that doesn’t mean they’re seen nearly as much as straight athletes. The 2022 WNBA finals had an average viewership of 548,000 in four games. The 2022 NBA finals have had an average viewership of 11 million going into game five. Young LGBTQ+ athletes need to know that there are people in sports that they can identify with. That can’t happen if the WNBA doesn’t get more coverage.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected]