Swoopes Pulls Back Mask On Lesbianism In WNBA

Well, we've all been curious who the first high-profile athlete to announce that they're gay would be, and now that Houston Comets MVP Sheryl Swoopes has done it, well, we guess we're still kind of waiting. No offense to Swoopes, of course, who is one of the best players in WNBA history and actually has a Nike shoe named after her, but, well, as far as "high-profile" goes, she's still just one of the best players in WNBA history. This is not Anna Kournikova, Annika Sorenstam or (ahem) Michelle Wie coming out; this is a WNBA star, in a league that (unfairly or not) has a reputation of being primarily for lesbians anyway.

We salute Swoopes, of course, for being comfortable with coming out, though, we have to note again, it's toward the end of her career when most of her high-level endorsements long since passed. ( Women's Hoops Blog hits the right note, basically just shrugging and saying, "good for her.") Of course, this begs the question: How will the WNBA handle this? Remember, the league, when it first started, marketed a married and preggers Swoopes as the "non-gay" face of the league. We figure they're going to just assume everyone forgot about that. Probably a good assumption.

Right now, though, you know Jay Mohr is somewhere in his basement, scribbling "jokes" about butch ladies beating him up.

Sheryl Swoopes Comes Out [OutSports] Sheryl Swoopes Endorses Lesbian Cruise Line [Women's Hoops Blog]