The huge media blitz following retired pro basketball player John Amaechi's announcement that he's gay reveals the refreshing change afoot in the male-dominated world of professional sports.

Reactions by players and officials show that their once thoroughly anti-gay culture is slowly but surely becoming welcoming.

That's encouraging, because equating being a manly jock with hating gays hurts everyone who loves sports, not just gay athletes like Amaechi, who describes living in the sports closet in "Man in the Middle." Amaechi played center for five seasons with the Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the most telling moment after Amaechi's bombshell, National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern quickly denounced ex-Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway for saying, "I hate gay people," and that he wouldn't want a gay teammate.

Dropping Hardaway from NBA's All-Star activities, Stern said, "It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours."

Stern told The Associated Press: "We have a very diverse league. The question at the NBA is always, 'Have you got game?' That's it, end of inquiry."

In women's sports, Wimbledon champ Amelie Mauresmo has proven that fans, competitors and even sponsors can love an openly gay woman at the top of her game. We're still waiting for a gay man at the top of his game to come out.

Most players and fans already embrace the idea of openly gay pros in team sports, as surveys by Sports Illustrated confirm: In February 2006, a majority of players in Major League Baseball (61.5 percent), the NBA (59.6 percent), the National Football League (56.9 percent) and the National Hockey League (79.9 percent) would "welcome an openly gay teammate."

In April 2005, the magazine found 79 percent of the public wouldn't enjoy a sport less if they knew a player was gay.

Amaechi, the first former NBA player to come out, is delighted to be sparking a national discussion. "There's been a conversation that has happened that wouldn't have taken place," he told me. "People listen to celebrities, for good or for bad, and I bring to the conversation the fact that I'm a psychologist now. I come to this debate with more than just conjecture and anecdotes. I come with reading and research."

Reactions to him should encourage some active player to come out. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a gay player "would be an absolute hero ... and that'll put more money in your pocket. ... On the flip side, if you're the idiot who condemns somebody because they're gay ... you're going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have."

San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan told the Sacramento Bee: "It would not bother me if one of my players came out of the closet. He would get my support."

And New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas told Newsday: "If (there were an openly gay player) in my locker room, we won't have a problem with it. ... I'll make damn sure there's no problem."

He added: "Sports has always been a testing ground for what society will or won't accept. ... If we're not tolerant, we'll become tolerant."

Pro athletes pride themselves on being role models. It's time for a gay man playing pro ball to give them the chance to be role models of tolerance.

Deb Price of The Detroit News writes the first nationally syndicated column on gay issues. To find out more about Deb Price and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.