John Amaechi said several of his Orlando Magic teammates knew that he was gay when he played for the franchise between 1999 and 2001.

"I just thought I would lose my job," Amaechi said during an interview on Wednesday. "My teammates knew. We didn't talk about, but they knew. ... My teammates took care of me."

Amaechi said that the climate of the United States at that time, as well as playing for a conservative owner like Rich DeVos whose family has donated money to anti-gay marriage groups, made coming out publicly not something he was comfortable doing.