Former Basketball Star AJ Ogilvy Publicly Comes Out After Years of Concealing His Identity

• Former NBL centre AJ Ogilvy has publicly confirmed he is gay after keeping his personal life largely private throughout his basketball career
• The 37-year-old discussed how sporting culture shaped his decision to wait, and said visibility in men’s professional sport has begun to shift
• His announcement arrives as more athletes and public figures call for safer, more inclusive environments within elite sports

Former Australian basketball player AJ Ogilvy has publicly come out as gay, admitting he spent much of his career suppressing his true identity due to the pressures of professional sport.

The 37-year-old made the announcement in a candid conversation broadcast on the National Basketball League’s official YouTube channel, released during the league’s annual Pride round.

Ogilvy, who retired in 2022 after more than 200 NBL appearances, said the sporting environment has changed significantly compared to when he first entered the league.

“There’s now a place for us to have this conversation,” he said.

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“If people want to talk or ask questions, there’s someone they can reach out to.”

The former Illawarra Hawks and Sydney Kings centre also revealed he married his husband 18 months ago, having quietly maintained the relationship for years while still playing.

Balancing basketball and identity under pressure

Ogilvy admitted he navigated his entire professional career believing he needed to appear heterosexual in order to fit the model of an elite male athlete.

He described maintaining separate social media accounts, one for the public and another for close friends, as he tried to avoid scrutiny. While some teammates were aware of his relationship, Ogilvy said the lack of open visibility meant he never felt fully safe to discuss it publicly.

He explained that, growing up, mainstream portrayals of same-sex relationships were often bleak and discouraged, leading him to internalise the idea that such a life would be “lonely” or “sad”.

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The three-time All-NBL First Team selection competed professionally in Germany, Spain and Turkey, alongside his long stint in Australia. He helped lead Illawarra to the NBL Grand Final in 2017 and later ended his career with Melbourne United.

Changing visibility in men’s professional sport

The interview was conducted by fellow Australian player Isaac Humphries, who came out in 2022 and became only the second openly gay active men’s basketballer after Jason Collins, who publicly revealed his sexuality in 2013.

Ogilvy credited Humphries’ announcement as one of the triggers that made him reflect on authenticity and representation within elite sport.

The story arrives amid growing acceptance and cultural shifts around LGBTQ athletes, including influences from pop culture. The recent success of the Canadian television series Heated Rivalry, centred around two fictional hockey players in a secret relationship, has reportedly encouraged real athletes to privately acknowledge their sexuality.

Actor Hudson Williams, who stars in the series, told a US radio interview that anonymous messages from closeted professionals in hockey, basketball and football have been steadily increasing since the show premiered.

In South African sports, players like Banyana Banyana's Andile Dlamini live openly gay lives. The celebrated goalkeeper for Banyana Banyana and Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies, is officially married having tied the knot with her partner, Lulama, on Saturday, 20 December 2025.

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The wedding came during a notable period in Dlamini’s football career. She was nominated in the Best Goalkeeper category at the CAF Awards in November and played a crucial role in Banyana Banyana’s triumph at the 2023 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Ex Olympic star arrested

Briefly News previously reported that a former Olympic star has been arrested after more than a decade on the run and now faces major drug trafficking and murder charges in the United States.

Wedding is accused of overseeing a major drug trafficking network that allegedly moved large volumes of drugs from Colombia through Mexico and into Southern California

Source: Briefly News