Suns team president Rick Welts comes out of the closet, should this matter?

No, it shouldn't. And yet it does.

Rick Welts/Courtesy: nba.com/suns

For those of you unfamiliar, Rick Welts, the team President of the Phoenix Suns decided this weekend that he wouldn't hide his sexual orientation anymore. He's gay.

What someone does with their personal life on their personal time should neither be an issue or a detriment. And Rick Welts happens to be very good at his job.

But in the NBA, where Kobe Bryant calls a referee a "Faggot" and former player Tim Hardaway says "I hate gay people", the situation may be a bit different.

Welts spoke to the New York Daily News about why he decided to come out--mostly to help inspire young athletes who could potentially be in his situation and the difficulty of keeping his secret for nearly 40 years. It's a really interesting story.

Read the full story RIGHT HERE

The quote that is a bit disappointing to us is this: "It's just a topic not really spoken about in our industry. It's kind of out-of-step with where our society is today."


He's right. And it is kind of sad. But it is oh so very true that on the internet, in the stands and in the locker room, this is going to be an issue. He's going to get called names and looked at differently. It's what people do. Particularly in places like the internet where it can be done in anonymity.

We really hope for the day where something like this is a non-issue. It shouldn't matter what someone's sexual orientation is. Does anyone really think that Rick Welts or anyone else is running around the locker room trying to see guys get cleaned up and hoping to attack them? Do they really think it matters as to whether he's good at or qualified for his job?

Yeah, we know the locker room is an odd place with "Un-written" rules. It always will be. But the NBA and other sports need to get over themselves and act like grown ups. Kinda like Rick Welts is.

We give you some video of the Suns, who struggled this past season: (NBA.com)