Was Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson fired for his Christian views on gay marriage? That’s what Ann Killion is asking at sfgate.com, noting that Jackson’s lukewarm reaction to the coming-out of Jason Collins last year was something of a mismatch for the Bay Area, which is the global capital of gay politics and culture.
Killion writes:
Everything about Jackson was under scrutiny, which includes his very public persona as a religious man. It was probably not at the top of the list, but was probably on the list….
When Jason Collins made his historic pronouncement last year that he was gay, Jackson’s immediate response came out sounding less-than-supportive.
“I will say this,” Jackson said the day of the news. “We live in a country that allows you to be whoever you want to be. As a Christian man, I serve a God that gives you free will to be who you want to be. As a Christian man, I have beliefs of what’s right and what’s wrong. That being said, I know Jason Collins, I know his family, and am certainly praying for them at this time.”
What’s right and what’s wrong? Praying for someone who decided to live an honest life? His words created a very strange vibe, especially for a Bay Area team in the 21st century….
None of this was quite Donald Sterling-esque. But it was probably not the image the Warriors wanted to project, especially as they lobbied hard to move to San Francisco.
Killion also notes that Warriors team president Rick Welts “is openly gay, becoming the first high-ranking executive in professional sports to come out back in 2011.” That, she suggests, may also have been a factor.
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