AJ Ogilvy Comes Out Ahead Of NBL Pride Round And Talks About Living Two Lives
AJ Ogilvy, a former Australian National Basketball League (NBL) player, has publicly shared that he is gay in a filmed one-on-one chat with Isaac Humphries, ahead of the league’s Pride Round.
Ogilvy played 218 NBL games across the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks. He says he spent much of that time trying to keep parts of himself out of view, even as he built a life off the court.
“I’ve been married for nearly 18 months now. I met my husband when I was playing in Sydney, so I was with him for all my time in Wollongong and part of the time in Sydney,” Ogilvy said.
He describes managing two versions of himself, depending on the room he was in. He said that, in Sydney, he kept his “two lives” separate, even if he was not “super discreet” about it.
He also said he ran two social media accounts, one for basketball and one limited to close friends. “For a long time, I believed that to be a basketballer, I had to present as straight and not show this side of my personality,” he said.
Humphries, who plays for the Adelaide 36ers, came out in 2022 and has become a visible voice in the league. He said having both an active player and an ex-player speaking openly helps move the conversation forward.
“We’ve got a player who plays every weekend, who is openly gay and an ex-player now, who’s openly gay and married, who’s prepared to talk about this life and these situations,” Humphries said. “That visibility and acceptance are really important, and it continues to move our great league forward.”
The NBL’s Pride Round runs from 21 January to 1 February this season, and it’s spread across multiple rounds of fixtures.
Ogilvy and Humphries both point to Pride Round as giving players and fans a clearer opening to talk, ask questions, and feel less alone in the sport environment. “There’s now a place for us to have this conversation, for us to be able to talk as openly as this,” Ogilvy said.
He also added, “Pride Round is for everyone. There’s people in the stands, people at home watching. It’s about making sure everyone feels included.”
The NBL has previously said it does not mandate Pride jerseys, stating it “fully respects and understands” that people may have different views, and that if any player or team elects not to wear a Pride jersey, “we will respect that decision.”
