Email this Page to a Friend

John Amaechi

Self-limitation is not a term in John Amaechi's vocabulary. At the age of 17, an overweight, not incredibly athletic young British man that had never touched a basketball, embarked on an incredible journey that has yet to be duplicated.

Despite such a late start to the game and a devastating injury that nearly severed his dominant hand, he would rehab his injury becoming ambidextrous in the process and move to the United States without knowing a soul. From there, he became the surprising star of a Big Ten basketball program and eventually reached one of the first of many lifetime goals he had set out for becoming a professional basketball player in the NBA.

As the first, and to date, only, NBA player from Great Britain, John Amaechi has always set his sights high while demanding a lot of himself to get there. What separates him from the pack is an unwavering and conscientious focus on remaining true to himself and his ideals even when it's inconvenient or financially detrimental to do so. Turning down 17 million dollars from the Los Angeles Lakers was just one decision that was led not by Amaechi's financial appetite, but a bigger promise and commitment to others that he couldn't place a value on. Amaechi has now added another first to his biography. As described in his New York Times best-selling book, Man in the Middle, Amaechi goes from an awkward, overweight kid in Manchester, England to the high-flying hyper-masculine world of the NBA. Along the way, he endured endless obstacles to his hoop dreams?being abandoned by his father, being cut from his first college team, recovering from a life-threatening injury, playing for abusive coaches, and losing his mother - while also protecting a vital secret that could have ended his career: John Amaechi is gay.

He is also now the official spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project, a program designed to help gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people come out and live openly. In the UK, Amaechi is a regular sport and current affairs pundit for the BBC, ITV and SKY as well as a presenter on a range of radio and television programs, including ITV's ongoing Britain on the Move series and Channel 5's weekly Sport on Five. In addition to maintaining broadcast interests in the United States, he is currently the face of Sport England's latest "Everyday Sport" campaign as well as an Ambassador for London's 2012 Olympic Bid.

While Amaechi's NBA career spanned six years with four different teams, he was also a key player with two European championship teams. Until his retirement in 2006 from international competition, Amaechi had also captained England's national squad since his arrival to the team in 1997. A large and integral part of John Amaechi involves giving back to one's community, especially where kids are concerned. To that end, he founded the ABC Foundation, which aims to increase youth participation in physical activity and holistic support services while helping young people broaden their horizons and strive for excellence. The foundation's first sports center for children, the Amaechi Basketball Centre, opened in 2002 in Manchester.