ABC15 is celebrating Pride across the LGBTQ+ Community - and celebrating a hero on the hardwood at the same time.
But it's not a player, it's not a coach, and it's not a fan we're talking about --but instead, an officiant.
Usually, referees are not in the spotlight, but one Valley native and seasoned NBA referee made headlines for a personal call he made that had very little to do with the game.
Twenty-six seasons later and NBA referee Billy Kennedy still runs the court just as fast as players half his age, including at this year's NBA Finals!
It all started right here in the Valley for this South Phoenix native.
"The Boys Club became a place where I could go and enjoy and learn and grow as a person," explains Kennedy. I started at 8 years old and when I got to 12 years old, there was a Saturday where the referee for the 8-year-olds didn't show up."
Kennedy would end up making a life-changing decision; he volunteered to officiate the game for the 8-year-olds.
"It's been history ever since," he explains, with a smile during a recent interview with ABC15's Nick Ciletti.
It was history in many different respects. At age 30, Kennedy would enter the NBA as a referee — something that had been a lifelong goal for him.
For most of the quarter-century he's worked as a referee, he was hiding a deep, dark secret that he worried could derail his entire career and life as he knew it.
"It scared me to death," he explains. "Would I be accepted? Would I not be accepted? Would the players accept me?"
Billy was hiding his sexual orientation - his identity as a gay man remained under wraps, and like some other members of the LGBTQ+ community, he was afraid to live in his truth.
"Now that I've accomplished getting into the NBA, I don't want to jeopardize that and I thought back then that I could lose my job."
Then came the moment in December 2015, during a game in Mexico where a player upset by a call Billy had made, getting not one, but two technical fouls.
"After he was ejected, he proceeded to run across the floor, [yelling] the [f-word] to me on the floor several times, multiple times."
Kennedy says the NBA took swift action, suspending the player for one game - but his personal decision did not come as quickly.
It was a call this seasoned referee knew he had to make, but for a man who makes judgment calls for a living, this one would prove to be a game-changer in more ways than one.
"That's where I had to make the choice — now it's out. Now people are going to ask me, 'Well...are you?'"
So in an interview with Yahoo! Sports 11 days after the incident, Kennedy officially came out to the world, unburdening himself from that secret.
"Everyone was in shock," he remembers, recounting the moments and days after the article came out. "We didn't know how it was going to pan out. We didn't know how the fans would react or how the players would react or coaches react. Everyone was like, oh no, we don't know how to do this. We were in uncharted waters and we took it step by step."
As hard as it was at the time, and even though it wasn't on his terms, Kennedy explains it ended up being a blessing in disguise.
"Things happen for a reason and to me, when you look back over it, it was a blessing. Yes, it was difficult, and yes it was scary, but it was a challenge that I had to get over and it made me an even stronger person, I believe, because of it. You take a bad thing and you make it a good thing. I truly believe it was a good thing that it did happen."
Six months later, the NBA would take part in its first-ever Pride parade, which took place in New York City.
Kennedy still remembers it as an amazing moment.
"I am part of that legacy. Pride is legacy...and every time I see the word, see it in its colors, I go, 'I am proud of that. I am proud of who I am.'"
