Hooped Up

John Amaechi thought Andrei Kirilenko was aware and accepting of his lifestyle and that Kirilenko invited Amaechi and a partner, if he had one, to a 2002 Christmas party but that Amaechi declined because he was having his own party.

Amaechi said he sent Kirilenko a $500 bottle of champagne in thanks for a gesture “that meant the world to me, especially in the middle of a dreadful season in a strange desert state that in the end provided some of the best days of my life.

“It also showed that in my own paranoia and overwhelming desire for privacy, I’d failed to give some of my teammates the benefit of the doubt,” Sheridan quoted Amaechi as writing.

Deseret News