Rick Welts, the president and CEO of
the Phoenix Suns, has come out gay.
Welts told David Stern, the
commissioner of the National Basketball Association, about his sexual
orientation at a meeting last month in New York, the
New
York Times
reported. That discussion occurred after Welts had already
spoken with several stars of the sport, including Bill Russell and
Val Ackerman.
“This is one of the last industries
where the subject is off limits,” Welts told the paper. “Nobody's
comfortable in engaging in a conversation.”
The 58-year-old Welts joined the
Phoenix Suns in 2002 as president and chief operating officer and was
named chief executive officer seven years later, capping off a
journey that began 40 years earlier when he joined the NBA as a ball
boy. He becomes the first openly gay man in a prominent position in
the NBA.
In the article, Welts talked about
having to silently grieve the death of one lover from AIDS and the
high toll he's paid for remaining in the closet.
“My high profile in this community,
and my need to have him be invisible,” Welts regretfully said about
a recently failed relationship. “That ultimately became something
we couldn't overcome.”
Welts said Stern was “supportive but
didn't ask questions” and the pair hugged after their meeting.
“What I didn't say at the time was: I
think there's a good chance the world will find this unremarkable,”
Stern said. “I don't know if I was confusing my thoughts with my
hopes.”