As the assistant general manager and vice president of basketball strategy for the Phoenix Suns, Ryan Resch is one of the highest-profile out gay men in pro sports. “I finally told myself, ‘You need to stop running away from the obvious, and the obvious is that you’re gay,’” he said when he came out in 2022. “That’s probably something that I knew the entire time, but that path to acceptance was rocky, and far longer than it should have been.”

– Jim Buzinski

Nikki Hiltz is a two-time U.S. outdoor and indoor national champion at 1,500 meters and the first nonbinary athlete to reach an Olympic individual event final, which they did in Paris. Hiltz made an impact far beyond the track with their unflinching LGBTQ advocacy. Hiltz came out as trans and nonbinary on Trans Day of Visibility in 2021 and has never looked back. After winning a 2023 race in Des Moines, Iowa, Hiltz spoke passionately about the plight of trans people in the state. “Trans people live in Iowa and they deserve access to healthcare and access to sports,” Hiltz said to Citius Magazine after the race. “It meant more being in a state where there is so much hateful legislation.”

– Karleigh Webb

Becky Hammon in 2023 won her second consecutive WNBA title as head coach of the Las Vegas Aces. Hammon earned her position as head coach of the Aces after several seasons. She had been an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA for numerous seasons. Since taking over the top spot with the Aces, she’s led the team to two consecutive WNBA league championships.

– Outsports

Richardson, 24, came up short in her attempt to win the Olympic gold in Paris in the 100 meters, winning a silver, though she anchored the 4×100 relay team that won the gold. Richardson is a superstar in track and field and unabashedly her own person with a distinct flair that made her one of the faces of the Olympics. Richardson came out as bisexual in 2015, though she’s famously tight-lipped about her personal life and let’s her running on the track do her talking.

– Jim Buzinski

Reeve’s 15 seasons in Minnesota as head coach and President of Basketball Operations of the WNBA’s Lynx are a statement of greatness. With four WNBA titles under her belt, Reeve helmed her seventh WNBA Finals squad, in 2024. Her efforts earned her both the WNBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year awards, joining Curt Miller as the only two to win both awards in the same season. Reeve kept that pedigree in her first Olympics as head coach for Team USA as the American women captured their eighth-straight gold medal at the Paris Games.

– Brian C. Bell

George Cheeks has a long title that shows his power in media: President and CEO, CBS and Chief Content Officer, News and Sports for Paramount+. In the sports realm, Cheeks was “Paramount’s point person on discussions with the NFL for the massive rights renegotiation” in 2022. In a previous job, Cheeks was at NBCUniversal for seven years in various roles, including being head of late-night programming for NBC Entertainment.

– Jim Buzinski

Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss are legends in the sports world. As athletes, the two women each won multiple Grand Slam titles. King won 39 — third most of all time — and Kloss with two. As advocates they have been iconic champions of women and LGBTQ people in sports, King one of the Original Nine professional women’s tennis players and Kloss, a few years younger, joining the push for female athletes not long after. They have never relented. The women aren’t just in love — they have been for over 40 years — but they approach their work in sports as a business partnership as well. “I’m the dreamer and Ilana is the builder,” King told Outsports. “People give me credit when so often they should give Ilana credit. I get upset about it.” As a bonus this year, the two part-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers get to see their team play in the World Series. As a double bonus, King will be the grand marshal of the Jan. 1, 2025, Rose Parade.

– Cyd Zeigler

When Erik Braverman came out publicly on Outsports in 2015, he blazed a trail taken by few out gay men in sports, leading the way all the way to the C Suite of the Dodgers. Since then he’s helped lead the team’s LGBTQ efforts including the most successful Pride Night in all of sports. Earlier this year, he and a group of investors that includes his husband, Jonathan Cottrell, purchased Gym Sportsbar and Grill in West Hollywood, renaming it Gym Bar WeHo and elevating it as a go-to spot for LGBTQ sports fans, athletes and even those who don’t know their Shohei from their Ohtani.

– Cyd Zeigler

When the Ricketts family bought the Chicago Cubs in 2009, Laura Ricketts immediately made history by becoming the first out LGBTQ owner in MLB history. Seven years later, she was front and center during the celebration when the Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years. In 2023, she led a group of investors to purchase the Chicago Red Stars and was instrumental in the club hosting a match at Wrigley Field this summer which broke an NWSL record with an attendance of 35,038.

– Ken Schultz

Brittney Griner has won an NCAA championship, a WNBA title and three Olympic gold medals for Team USA. But her selection as No. 1 on our list comes after she survived nearly 10 months in a Russian prison, never losing faith. Her resiliency in the face of such a trauma has made her a unifying force for the country.

– Karleigh Webb