Billy Kennedy (left) laughs with coach Mike Brown during a game last season.
The LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame announced its 2026 Hall of Fame class, four of whom have basketball ties. NBA referee Bill Kennedy, executive Rick Welts, journalist Robin Roberts and former WNBA player Sue Wicks are part of the 2026 class.
Additionally, former NBA player Jason Collins will receive the Glenn Burke Award, which “honors individuals who demonstrate courage and authenticity in transforming sports.”
Kennedy has been an NBA referee since the 1995-96 season and became the league’s second out referee in 2015. He came out after Rajon Rondo used a gay slur at him after being ejected from a game in Mexico City between the Sacramento Kings and Rondo’s first NBA team, the Boston Celtics.
Congratulations to NBA Referee Billy Kennedy who has been announced as an inductee into the LGBTQ Sports Hall Of Fame Class of 2026 🏆
"This year’s class recognizes trailblazers who have made significant contributions to sports, advocacy, and inclusion. This year’s honorees have… pic.twitter.com/5jSw53oTh6
— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) January 20, 2026
Kennedy has officiated in multiple NBA Finals, as well as the 2010 FIBA World Championships and 2012 Summer Olympics and has become popular for his unique style in announcing the results of coaching challenges. Kennedy is out of action with a strained hamstring suffered this month.
Welts, who was a part of three championships with Golden State from 2015-18, came out as gay on May 15, 2011, in an interview with the New York Times, making him the first out prominent American sports executive.
Welts was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 as a contributor. He left the team as an executive in April 2021 but remained as an advisor.
Welts grew up in Seattle and was a ball boy for the Seattle Supersonics before contributing to their 1979 NBA championship as a member of their front office. He worked for the Sonics from 1969 to 1979 with another role as director of public relations.
In 1984, he created the concept of NBA All-Star Weekend, the marketing campaign for the 1992 Dream Team and is credited with helping market the launch of the WNBA.
Wicks came out as gay in 2002, becoming the first out player to play in the WNBA. She was the sixth pick in the 1997 WNBA Draft by New York, spending her six-year WNBA career with the Liberty, finishing eighth in total blocks. She made four WNBA Finals, was an All-Star 2000 and won the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award the same year.
Wicks was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. She averaged 21.2 points and 10.9 rebounds at Rutgers (1985-88) and was inducted into the Rutgers Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Roberts has been a fixture in the media for many years and publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation in Dec. 2013. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012, inducted into Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016 and won the NBA’s Sager Strong Award in 2019. Roberts was also awarded the Billie Jean Contribution award in 2004 and named an honorary Harlem Globetrotter in 2015.
Robins narrated “Vintage NBA” on ESPN Classic from 1999 to 2002, which was a basketball biography series about the life of an NBA basketball player, coach or league history.
Collins was a first-round pick in 2001 (18th overall), selected by the Houston Rockets before his draft rights were traded to the then-New Jersey News. Collins came out as gay after the 2012-13 NBA season. He became the first out active male athlete among the four major North American pro-sports leagues on Feb. 23, 2014, after signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
Toward the end of his career, he wore 98 as his jersey number to honor Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was murdered in a hate crime in 1998. His jersey became the top seller on the NBA’s online store.
In 2025, Collins and his partner, film producer Brunson Green, announced Collins was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, announcing on Dec. 11 he was diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma.
