Pause on the NBA: Suns President Rick Welts Announces He's Gay

"If you wonder why it took 40 years for the highest-ranking gay NBA exec to come out of the closet, look no further than Kobe Bryant or Tim Hardaway.

It wasn't easy for Rick Welts, president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns, former president of the L.A. Dodgers, the second-ranking NBA executive, co-creator of the WNBA and NBA All-Star Weekend,  to come out.

This, in a  sport where Kobe Bryant called a referee a "faggot," and  where Tim Hardaway  proclaimed,  "I hate gay people."

Welts, handsome at 58, who got advice from longtime pal Bill Russell before revealing his secret to the world, thinks such moments of homophobia are anomalies in basketball.

"The rare occasions you're referring to have become teaching moments. It's more a conspiracy of silence than any outwardly hostile environment," Welts told The Daily News Monday.

"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." read more - - via NYDailyNews