Isaac Humphries, the first Australian basketball player to admit that he is gay and that he was close to suicide

Melbourne United CEO Nick Truelson told several Australian media outlets that “the whole club is proud of him.”

• american football The athlete Colton Underwood and the hard years until assuming his homosexuality

the aussie Isaac Humphries has become the first professional basketball player in the Australian National League (NBL) in openly acknowledging being gay, and expressed great relief at taking the plunge and finally being able to “reconcile his sexuality” with his sporting “environment”.

In an emotional video posted this Wednesday on his social networks, Humphries, 24, who is a member of the ranks of the Melbourne United Australian, revealed in the locker room in front of his teammates that he is gay, and admitted making the decision after “an extremely dark period” in which he even “tried to take my life.”

“I thought that this person could not be within our environment,” confessed Humphries, who admitted taking the step thanks to “being part of a community full of pride and happiness”, which was “an awakening for me,” he added.

“You can be a great basketball player and be gay. It has nothing to do with your sexuality (…) I just want to be myself,” Humphries concluded.

Isaac Humphries thus becomes the first Australian NBL player to admit his homosexuality, in one of the few examples in the world of basketball professional.

In 2013, the NBA player Jason Collins He was the first professional athlete in a major American league to come out as gay.

For his part, the five-time Olympic champion and global swimming icon, Ian Thorpe, also Australian, admitted to being gay in 2014 after years denying the rumors.

Melbourne United CEO, Nick Truelson, announced to several Australian media outlets that “the whole club is proud of him.” “It’s an incredible step in Isaac’s journey,” Truelson added.