Snow showers 28°5 Day Forecast
News Search

Advanced search
go
NewsClassifiedsYellow PagesShoppingJobsHomesCarsAllAroundCleveland
Home
Jobs
Auto
Real Estate
Today's Deals
Place An Ad
Classifieds
Photo Reprints
Lake Co. Visitors Guide
Mentor Chamber Guide
Willoughby Chamber Guide
News
Top StoriesLocal SportsGraduation 2008Community / AnnouncementsElections 2008ObituariesWeatherOpinions/EditorialsAllAroundClevelandTraffic
Today's Ads
Photo Galleries
Home Delivery
Newspaper In Education (NIE)
Place Classified Ads
Ohio Lottery
Business
Special Sections
Personals
USA Weekend
Fun and Games
Lifestyles
Maps & Directions
Contact Us
Entertainment
Movies
TV
Crosswords
Horoscope
Fun & Games
Site Tools
Yellow Pages
Photo Galleries
7-Day Archive
Services
Subscribe
Photo Reprints
Place An Ad
Browse Today's Ads
Advertising Information
Newspaper in Education
County Kids Rates/Print Dates
Contact Us
News-Herald Jobs
SECTION LINKS
  • Major League
  • National Basketball Association
  • NFL
  • Home : News : News : Local Sports
    Local Sports
    Former Cavalier to admit he's gay
    Bob Finnan RFinnan@News-Herald.com
    02/08/2007
    email this storyEmail to a friendpost a commentPost a Commentprinter friendlyPrinter-friendly
    Upcoming book, ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' to tell the story of John Amaechi

    Former Cavaliers center John Amaechi will become the first NBA player to publicly say he is homosexual.
    Amaechi, who averaged 2.8 points per game for the Cavs in 1995-96, played for Cleveland, Orlando, Utah and New York and retired in 2003. He's now a television personality in England. Amaechi will appear on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Sunday, and his autobiography "Man in the Middle" will be released Feb. 14.
    Cavs forward LeBron James said he doesn't know how he'd react to playing with a gay teammate.
    "It's something I'd have to evaluate," he said. "They said he always denied (being gay). One of his biggest regrets was not telling his teammates he was gay. That would be a difficult situation."
    Cavs forward Donyell Marshall said the players sometimes get miffed by comments from the peanut gallery.
    "Look at what people say about us in the stands," he said. "If he was in the league playing, and having to go to arena to arena and listen to people yelling that out, it would be a tough thing."
    James said a gay player would have trouble surviving in the NBA.
    "We're like family," he said. "We take showers together, you're on the bus and you're talking about a lot of things.
    "You have to be trustworthy. We all trust each other. There's a locker-room code. What's said in the locker room stays in the locker room. I haven't been around a person like that, so I don't know how I'd react."
    Marshall played with Amaechi in Utah. He said a gay player would have trouble.
    "You have to be strong-willed to play in the NBA or sports, period," he said. "When we're in there, we say some things about each other. You wouldn't want (a comment) to slip out."
    No outside voices
    NBA coaches are reluctant to bring in outside coaches to try to help their teams. Cavs coach Mike Brown is no different.
    "I've always experienced from (Gregg Popovich), Rick Carlisle and Bernie (Bickerstaff), it's not a good thing to keep adding voices," Brown said.
    Former Cavs star Mark Price is in town, but he's not here to help with Cleveland's free-throw woes.
    "I'd always work with someone who asks for it," Price said. "I'm here to meet with Danny (Ferry) for a couple days."
    The Cavs are shooting an NBA-low 68.4 percent from the line.
    "It's painful to watch at times," Price said. "I hate to see anybody miss free throws."
    Price said it's possible to fix what ails the Cavaliers, but that might be difficult to do at this point in the season.
    "Individually, guys have to work on it in the offseason," Price said. "It's tough to change techniques during the season. When a couple guys are struggling, it spreads and it affects the whole team. At this point, a lot of it is mental."
    Brown active
    Rookie guard Shannon Brown was active for the Clippers game. He's recovered from a serious bone bruise.
    "He went through practice (Tuesday)," Mike Brown said. "He was fine.
    "He's a young guy who hasn't played. The last time he did play (Dec. 9), he didn't look real comfortable out there. It's going to take more practice time and more game time where we put him in more game situations when the lights are on, he fits in. He's athletic. He's a scorer and a runner. He has a chance to be a good defender. All those things have yet to be seen."
    Milestone for Z
    Wednesday's game marked Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 500th career start.
    He became the second player in franchise history - Brad Daugherty's
    548 is tops - to start 500 or more games.


    ©The News-Herald 2010


    email this storyEmail to a friendpost a commentPost a Commentprinter friendlyPrinter-friendlyTop

    Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy
    ©2007 News-Herald- a Journal Register Property. All Rights reserved.

    Interested in a career with Journal Register Company? Click here.
    Journal Register
    Local Newspapers
    News-Herald
    News-Herald.com
    Morning Journal
    MorningJournal.com
    AllAroundCleveland.com
    AllAroundCleveland.com

    AllAroundCleveland.com is your local connection to newspaper websites in Ohio.