Mark Cuban Thinks a Gay Player Would Stack the Bank

I've wondered about this, and I think Mark Cuban is on point here. I'll let him explain. These are comments he made to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective. You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket."

Always thinking of the bottom line, that Mark Cuban. And I think he's right. Not every company would hop on the rainbow bandwagon, but a lot would. I don't think Mark Cuban is wrong on a high percentage of business-related things. Hell, someone like Mikki Moore should just tell everyone he's gay, even if he's not, and get himself some money.

Something I hadn't considered was the marketing response towards athletes who are less than cool with a gay teammate. There may be some corporate backlash against a guy who's seen as closed-minded and bigoted.

"On the flip side, if you're the idiot who condemns somebody because they're gay, then you're going to be ostracized, you're going to be picketed and you're going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have."

Hm. Something to think about.

And this is not me saying, "Hey, gay NBA players (and they're out there), tell the world you're gay!" Obviously, there are a myriad of issues that this doesn't address. A guy will face a backlash in the locker room. There will be some general mangers who don't want him. The player will take abuse from fans. He will be under constant media scrutiny. And I'm not saying that any endorsement money is enough to compensate for that, or attempting to tell any player what he should do.

But someone has to be, and someone will be first. It's like my man Isiah Thomas says, "If we're not tolerant, we'll become tolerant." And if corporate America has some sway in that, then hey, they're good for something. We'll take it.