Basketball’s Phoenix Suns president becomes mentor to gay people in sports

Rick Welts [pic], president and chief executive of the Phoenix Suns recently explained to his colleagues and the press that he wants to “pierce the silence that envelops the subject of homosexuality in men’s team sports”.

Last month he came out to David Stern, commissioner of the NBA and for the first time in their 30-year friendship, they hugged.

He wants to be a mentor to gay people who harbor doubts about a sports career, whether on the court or in the front office. Most of all, he wants to feel whole, authentic.

Welts, 58, has spent 40 years in sports, rising from ball boy with the Sonics to NBA executive to team president.

[via The Seattle Times]