Isaac Humphries announced publicly that he is gay, becoming the first out gay current player in any top-flight men’s professional basketball league.
The former Kentucky star and current professional basketball player posted a video to social media to make that announcement as he addressed his teammates face-to-face. That video also revealed Humphries tried to take his own life because he was “disgusted” with himself before growing to love himself.
“I decided that if I’m going to join a team, I’m going to come out publicly and just make sure people know that you can live and you don’t have to hide just because you’re an athlete.”
“We, as athletes, as professional athletes, have a responsibility to set examples for people,” Humphries said. “The truth is there are so many people in other worlds that are struggling every single day and don’t know how to get up, (and) don’t know how to exist. I know how that feels, and I want to represent those people.”
He added: “That’s my goal behind this: make sure people know you can be whatever you want, no matter who you are or what you do. You can be big Ice and be gay, and you can still be a great basketball player and be gay. You can do whatever you want. It has nothing to do with your sexuality, or who you are, or who you’re meant to be, or who you’re expected to be. I just want to be myself. I discovered this is my purpose in life, and I’m gonna give it my best go.”
The 24-year-old is averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in Australia’s NBL. Before that, he played his college ball at Kentucky and a short tenure with the Atlanta Hawks in the 2018-19 season, appearing in five regular-season games.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NCAA stories via Google! Follow Us
The only other player in a top men’s basketball league to publicly come out as gay while being an active player was Jason Collins in 2013.
