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2 143honor with UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden—
she noted that many people consider her radical “but 10
years from now my ideas will seem antiquated.” (One
of them regarded the playing of the national anthem at
sporting events: “If the song offends some people, it is
their privilege not to stand or acknowledge it.”) King was
SI’s first female honoree, though in her telling she might
not have been chosen if her sexuality had been known.
In All In, King describes an exchange with SI writer
Frank Deford over dinner some 30 years after the honor.
Deford said that when she was being considered for
Sportswoman, managing editor Andre Laguerre asked
him, “What’s this I hear about Billie Jean King being a
lesbian?” Deford recalled saying, “Oh, Andre, they say that
about all women athletes.” King writes, “Had Laguerre’s
suspicions been confirmed, I never would have had a share
of the 1972 award.” (Neither Deford nor Laguerre is still
alive; Curry Kirkpatrick, who wrote the ’72 SOTY story,
says he wasn’t involved in the selection of the winner.)
Whether or not Laguerre wanted a gay athlete on the
cover of his magazine, he got one. Though she was then
married to tennis promoter Larry King, Billie Jean was
grappling with her own identity. She says
she probably thought of herself as bisex-
ual in 1972, noting, “We’re much more
f luid than we think.” Seven years later
she began her 42-year relationship with
Ilana Kloss, now her wife, a former pro-
fessional tennis player from South Africa
(and King’s doubles partner). In 1981 the
pair returned to their room at a resort in
Florida and saw the door covered in pink
phone message slips—which is how they
found out King had been outed.
“Life was miserable then if you were gay,”
King recalls, “and I was trying to figure
out who I am.” She dismissed the advice
of her lawyer and publicist and chose to
acknowledge that she had had an extramar-
ital relationship with a woman, her former
secretary. King estimates she lost half a mil-
lion dollars in endorsements and marketing
deals in the first two months and millions
overall, delaying her retirement plans. Not
until she was 51, after an inpatient stay
at a Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders
that involved family and couples therapy,
did King become truly comfortable with
her sexual identity.
Around that time, King says Deford
shared with her the discussion before
the 1972 award. “I’m glad it’s not that
way anymore,” King says, pointingSPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR 2021MAKING A RACKET
After founding the
WTA and serving as
its president during
her playing days,
King has continued
tirelessly advocating for
women’s sports since her
retirement in 1983.