First openly gay NBL star Isaac Humphries surprised by reception since coming out – 7NEWS
Melbourne United star Isaac Humphries has experienced none of the “smack talk” he feared he would face from NBL opponents after making global headlines by announcing he is gay.
Humphries came out publicly last month and revealed the extreme toll hiding his sexuality had taken on his mental health, which he said had led him to attempt suicide.
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The 211cm former NBA centre’s story went around the world, with openly homosexual athletes a rarity in men’s professional sport.
Despite some concerns about how his announcement might be received, Humphries has enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive response at home and abroad.
“I’ve received a lot of support from other teams, past teammates and friends … and I’ve had a lot of really nice things happen in our basketball community,” Humphries told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’ve always felt very comfortable on the court since the announcement.
“That was a worry of mine; just how everyone received it and how it goes moving forward on the court with players and smack talk and all that stuff.
“But so far it’s been received really well and everyone’s just really proud that I can be myself and come out of a dark space and be happy.”
Humphries said he had also expected negative responses to his announcement online, but has received relatively few.
“I’m a professional athlete and I’ve been in the public eye for so long of my life and I’m very used to having bad things said about me online or whatever,” the 24-year-old said.
“I guess it’s different (on the subject of sexuality) because it’s your character and it’s who you are and they’re attacking you.
“It’s pretty sad to say, but there’s nothing they’re going to say that I haven’t thought or said about myself.
“I’m all good with whatever they have to say and it looks like there’s been a lot of support from everyone else whenever anyone’s tried to say anything negative.”
Four weeks on from his announcement, Humphries is already making moves behind the scenes to use it as a platform to help others in fields such as LGBTQI representation and mental health.
He has sought advice from former AFL star and Indigenous leader Eddie Betts, who urged patience in pursuit of genuine social change.
“I don’t want to just be a poster boy for this. I want to actually make things happen and really help,” Humphries said.
“Absolutely expect to see me trying to make real change and help people, but it’s not an overnight thing.”
At the time, teammate Mason Peatling told reporters “he’s done a really brave thing … but we’ll embrace him and hopefully one day no-one will really care (about a player’s sexuality).”
“For me, nothing’s going to change. We treat Isaac just the same and he’s part of our club.
“We’re looking forward to what comes as a result of it.”
The 24-year-old became the only openly gay player in a men’s top-tier basketball league when he made his announcement via a video posted on social media in November.
In the clip, Humphries revealed his true identity to his teammates and told them he had previously attempted to take his own life while grappling with his sexuality.
The video was viewed more than five million times in the first 24 hours after it was posted.
“It was an emotional week, but a great week,” Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said.
“We felt like our culture as a club grew in diversity and acceptance of everybody through Isaac and what he went through and the courage he had to do that.”
Humphries also drew praise from the Adelaide camp, with whom he spent two seasons before joining Melbourne this year.
“We’re proud of him and happy for him taking control of his life,” Sixers coach CJ Bruton said.
“As a coach, I can’t say enough about Isaac. I love him and I’m happy that he’s happy.”
Adelaide import Robert Franks tipped Humphries’ bravery to have a huge effect around the world.
“It’s going to be big-time,” Franks said.
“For (Humphries) to step up and say that is going to give a lot more people confidence to come out and get that monkey off their back.”
Sydney Kings guard Angus Glover, who has known Humphries since they were both 10 years old, was one of many rival players to message their support to the Melbourne United centre at the time.
“Pretty much everyone in the league probably (reached out to Humphries),” Glover told AAP.
“I’m personally super happy for him that he’s overcome his demons and has been able to come out.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Isaac as a person. He’s such a good guy.”
Humphries said he has felt “free and happy” since coming out, but nothing has changed about his approach to basketball.
He is focused on helping Melbourne (6-11) bounce back into finals contention, starting with Thursday night’s game against cross-town rivals South East Melbourne Phoenix (10-6).
United are still reeling from blowing a five-point lead with nine seconds left to play in Monday’s 90-89 loss to the Perth Wildcats.
“We’re obviously hurting and we need to understand what went wrong in that last minute, but we need to move on and take what we did so well and put it into play now,” Humphries said.
“We’ve had a few really good displays of positive basketball in the last few games and we’re really working hard on building and snowballing positively.
“We were really showing that and I think we’re still going to. It’s just a real shame and disappointment with how that one ended.”
– AAP