Isaac Humphries comes out as first openly gay NBL player

Melbourne United forward Isaac Humphries has come out as gay, becoming the first NBL player to do so. Humphries delivered an emotional message to his teammates and staff which was posted to his personal Instagram page.

The video was posted by Humphries at roughly 10am Melbourne time and has already amassed close to 12,000 likes and 900 comments. The video begins with the voice of Humphries saying it would be “one of the hardest conversations I have ever had in my life”.

Humphries went on to outline his belief that life is about “doing hard things and learning from them and making a difference”. He spoke about falling into a “dark and lonely place” and confessed to making an attempt on his own life because of the struggles he was having with his sexuality.

Humphries then revealed to his teammates and coaches that he is gay, and that he “hated it” about himself. He elaborated on his statement, explaining that he felt he “could not be that person within our environment”.

Humphries further stated that, were he to join a new team, he would come out publicly about his own sexuality to show people that they can “live and you don’t have to hide”.

Humphries has had an impressive basketball career for someone who is yet to turn 25. A Sydney Scots College alumnus, Humphries has played for the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA College basketball system before declaring for the NBA draft in 2017.

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Humphries went undrafted and returned to Australia to play for the Sydney Kings in the 2017/18 season. Humphries appeared in 26 games for the Kings and earned NBL Rookie of the Year honours.

Humphries then went abroad to play in Serbia and the United States – including a stint with the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA – before returning to the NBL in recent years for the 36ers and now United.

Since the video was posted on Instagram, support has come from a range of people and organisations, including NBL clubs and players, Australian ion Danni Minogue, Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott, and the Queer Sporting Alliance (QSA).

The QSA commented: “This will have a huge impact on kids too afraid to be themselves”.

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