First openly gay Aussie basketballer shares touching story after coming out

The national team’s first openly gay basketballer has revealed his challenging mental health struggles after he came out to the public.

The first openly gay basketball player on the Australian national team has described the struggle he went through before coming out to his team.

Isaac Humphries shared the news with Melbourne United teammates in an emotional locker room video shared with his 70,000 Instagram followers in November.

“Being the only openly gay player to play for their nation (in basketball) ever is a pretty special honour,” he told Today on Friday.

The first openly gay team member of the Australian Boomers Isaac Humphries struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The Australian Boomers player has been enjoying his first World Pride and Sydney Mardi Gras as a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

But the 25-year-old revealed it was a tough battle to get to where he is now.

Humphries said in his coming-out video that he had struggled to come to terms with his sexuality.

“With the environment I’m in as a male basketballer, I felt like there wasn’t a space for me,” he told Today.

Humphries’ coming-out story was the cover story in GQ in February. Picture: Instagram

“Since coming out and going through the journey, I absolutely figured out that it is a space for everyone.

“You know, everyone's welcome and you just need to try your best to sort of get through the tough times and come out the other end.”

Humphries touched more deeply on these battles during his coming out to his teammates, including an attempt on his own life.

“Look, this is probably going to be one of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had in my life,” he said while facing his NBL teammates in November.

“But life is about doing hard things and learning from them and making a difference through those hard times.”

Humphries now has his sights set on the FIBA Basketball World Cup due to tip off in August in Indonesia.