Openly gay basketball player Derrick Gordon says sometimes he wonders whether he should have stayed in the closet.
Derrick Gordon was the first National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I player to come out as gay in 2014. He is just one of a handful of out, high profile players in sports. He was also the first openly gay man to play in the March Madness tournament.
His decision to come out followed that of football player Michael Sam and the National Basketball Association (NBA) player Jason Collins who he says inspired him to come out.
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Taking to Instagram the 25-year-old told his fans that all he ever wanted was the for the NBA to give him a chance to play, stated that he is the only player in NCAA history to have taken three different teams to the NCAA tournament.
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He said that although his coming out in 2014 “changed a lot of things”, that the decision still “haunts” him every day.
He told his fans,
“I know I should be in the NBA right now! The NBA just isn’t ready for a gay player. Which makes me wonder sometimes should I have just stayed in the closet?”