Standing 6-feet-and-10-inches tall, John Amaechi always stuck out in an American crowd. He ingests Earl Grey tea, holds a thick British accent, speaks against the National Rifle Association and became a surrogate parent for two Orlando kids.
That he’s gay shouldn’t shock many people, but it does, especially in the world of sports, which is particularly scared of that three-letter word. A former NBA player who has claimed residency throughout the United States and Europe, Amaechi penned a new autobiography, “Man in the Middle,” which outlines his self-professed oddities and confronts stereotypes of his teammates.
The biggest revelation in Amaechi’s life is the pursuit of happiness, which money evidently can’t buy. During terms in the United Kingdom, Greece, and U.S. cities like Orlando, Houston and Salt Lake City, the guy always singled out as an outsider struggled to find a place to belong. Noticing the riches and flamboyancy of NBA players, cars and jewelry abundant, Amaechi finds basketball success hollow.
His feelings are due partly from the lack of camaraderie. Being gay in the NBA means hiding from the tabloids and avoiding scrutiny from homophobic teammates and owners. (Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller pulled “Brokeback Mountain” from his theater after hearing about its content)
Then there is the detachment from his family after transfers from Amaechi’s hometown of Manchester, England to America. Teased for being a “whale” in school, he had only his mother and sisters to count on for emotional strength. It wasn’t until his basketball prominence and child mentoring at Penn State that he started to satisfy the “Plan,” as written with help from his “mum.”
The two strongest feelings pulled from “Man in the Middle” are sadness and laughter. As melancholy as his solitude seems (he hits low points while in Athens, Greece), his homosexuality is handled with good humor, with stabs at his taste in music and observations of the lavish lifestyles of NBA players. “And I’m the gay one,” he writes.
Published by ESPN Books, “Man in the Middle” is co-written by journalist Chris Bull. Forgive a couple of typos and Amaechi’s obsession with the word “antipathy” and you should be in for a good read. Don’t expect much writing about NBA player reactions either, as the book is sort of a “coming out” project.
