The importance of allyship in Pride Round

As the NBL progresses through its second Pride Round the message is simple, basketball is a space in which it is ok to be yourself, regardless of who you love or who you are.

NBL commentator, podcast host, former WNBL MVP and Opals bronze medalist Anneli Maley has become a staple of the Australian basketball landscape, and says if the NBL implemented a Pride Round when she was finding her way as a person and a professional, it would have been easier for her to accept herself.

“If when I was younger I got to see the NBL do a Pride Round while I was struggling with my own sexuality, the things it would have done for me and my ability to accept myself would have been huge. That’s why I think Pride Round is so important," Maley said.

“Having visibility as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community in a male-dominated sport is huge, especially these are athletes performing at the top of their level and they are getting around something like Pride Round, especially in a sport that’s considered so masculine, it really does so much for the visibility of queer people everywhere.

“It doesn’t mean all of the men playing in this round are queer or a part of that community, but showing by putting on a shirt or a rainbow logo to say ‘basketball is a place that is welcome for all people’, that’s what it should be. I think the most important thing about Pride Round – especially in the NBL – is really embracing basketball as a sport that is for everyone and it’s not this exclusive club you have to be in to be able to participate.

“To be a part of the basketball community means you can be whoever you want and it’s safe and you’re accepted and I think that’s why Pride Round is so important, it really hones in on the fact basketball is more than just a sport, but it’s a sport that doesn’t discriminate based on who you are and how you identify. I think that’s really important and I’m really proud of basketball in Australia and the NBL for having a Pride Round, that is so huge and I know it means so much to me.”

Anneli Maley representing Australia at the 2023 FIBA Women's Asia Cup.

Boomers star, former NBA player and perennial NBL MVP candidate Mitch Creek has been a long-standing ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, and has been publicly vocal in his belief people should be accepted for who they are, regardless of their creed, beliefs, sexuality or religion.

Creek was one of the faces of NBL23’s Pride Round and shared the story of how his sister came out to him and his family, and he’s continued to leverage his platform as one of Australia’s best basketball players to try and ensure basketball is a safe space for all.

“There’s always going to be people who sit on the fence and who sit on both sides of any issue. At the end of the day I ask myself this question, if my sister, my mother, my brother or my father came to me and had a conversation about their sexuality and how they have felt not themselves for whatever period of time, if they came to me would I tell them to piss off? Would I not listen? Or would I say I don’t want to hear it? I’m not saying you should treat everyone like your own family, because they’re not, but everyone is just like you," Creek said.

“If you’re reading this you’re like everyone else in the sense that you have thoughts, feelings and emotions, and you can’t change that. You’re always going to have a cause and an effect, when you do something there’s a reaction and an emotion. To feel that you are cared for, worthy and who you’re meant to be is an extremely powerful thing no matter what that is. That’s what life is all about, it’s about living your realest, truest, authentic life and having people support you.

“I know there’s a question mark around the round but I’ve seen the pros and the cons of what this can do for people in their lives, and I want to be a positive effect on people’s lives. I don’t tell people that they should or shouldn’t do something, I’ll let them make their own decisions and live in their own space but I think other people should have a welcoming space when there’s a Pride Round, or an Indigenous Round, or a Remembrance Round. Whatever it is we’ve all got to take the time to respect everyone for whatever it is they believe and whatever it is they choose to do in their world.

“I’ve had people reach out to me and say they’ve never told anyone they’re gay but say that, for some reason, they feel comfortable telling me. That’s great, it’s unreal and I’m so happy and proud of people who have that conversation and use it as a step towards having it with a closer circle of friends and family. It’s an extremely powerful experience to share.

“It’s something that happened in my family with my beautiful sister but it’s also in a lot of ones where it hasn’t been spoken about and never will be spoken about. If I can show it’s ok to be yourself and be open about who you share that life with then that’s the most important thing.”

Mitch Creek at the launch of NBL24 Pride Round.

Marcus Lee's basketball career has taken him to far-fling corners of the globe, and after stints in Spain, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Italy and the NBA G-League, he arrived at Melbourne United in NBL23 following Isaac Humphries’ public announcement of his own sexuality. Lee and Humphries both played collegiate basketball together at Kentucky – one of the NCAA’s traditional powerhouse programs.

Although both Humphries and Lee have since left United their bond forged almost a decade ago continues to flourish, and Lee has seen firsthand the power a professional athlete living as their truest self can bring.

“I think it’s a massive thing to have a person like ‘Ice’ (Humphries) leading the way. He’s strong, and he’s learning how to be strong in this space. Since he came out last year you can see he’s freer and more relaxed, and it’s good to see things like that, because there are people behind him who are going through the exact same thing and we can’t have other people like that, feeling like they can’t be their natural selves, and it’s great seeing someone like Isaac, who I pretty much grew up with at college, be able to be free with the rest of the world is amazing, you just see his energy blasting now, and you see it on the court too," Lee said.

“I think allyship is just supporting one another, to be completely honest, and allyship to me is building and creating an area and space not just where I feel normal, but where everyone else can feel normal and free to be themselves.

“I understand the slow steps and the precaution of other sports doing it because it’s a hard task to do it correctly, it’s not something you can just jump into and say ‘we’re doing this’, it’s something you have to ascertain how the players think, how the fans think, and how to get the right information out and available to everyone. I love the way the NBL has done it, I love how they’re pushing it to the front because we’re one of the most watched leagues in all of Australia, so it’s great to be at the forefront of it.”

Marcus Lee and Isaac Humphries representing Melbourne during NBL23.