A year ago tonight was the most terrifying hour of NBA referee Billy Kennedys life.It wasnt the night Rajon Rondo called him a m-----f---ing f----t. Nor was this the moment Kennedy released a statement a few days later acknowledging, to a big audience for the first time, I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man.Kennedy then did something that evening he has done literally since elementary school: He put on a refs uniform and prepared to call a game. This night though, for the first time, he took to an NBA court as someone new, feeling the full weight of being true to himself. How would fans react? Would a player humiliate him? What if someone ran onto the floor and tried to stab him?The route from locker room to court during warmups is the most familiar terrain in Kennedys life. In any NBA arena Kennedy could complete the walk blindfolded. But the most lonely place in the world can be a building packed with 19,000 strangers, with your friends a thousand miles away. Kennedy admits he was a wreck that night.This game happened to be in San Antonio, which at first seemed to matter not at all. But a few steps down the hall Kennedy bumped into Spurs executive R.C. Buford. Buford asked if Kennedy was OK, and Kennedy surprised them both by hugging the general manager. To Kennedys even bigger surprise, Buford didnt let go.At the most vulnerable moment of Kennedys life, Buford had several options. He couldve offered a pleasantry -- just enough to clear the threshold of compassion. He could have stressed the optics of one teams general manager offering aid and comfort to a person who can swing his teams fortunes. He could have shrunk from the sheer awkwardness in a professional setting of being pulled into the body of a man he didnt really know. Instead, Buford just hugged him.On the court, Utahs Trevor Booker -- now the Brooklyn Nets starting power forward -- saw Kennedy standing in a daze alone near the scorers table. Booker took the opportunity to breeze over to Kennedy. Much respect to you, Booker said with a nod, then was on his way.It was the right thing to do, Booker says looking back.Like just about every player in the NBA, Booker has no relationship with Kennedy. By edict of the league, Booker and Kennedy arent even allowed to exchange pleasantries should they run into each other at a restaurant. For Booker, the decision to acknowledge Kennedys achievement wasnt inspired by political conviction or any great affinity for Kennedy. What inspired Booker was empathy for someone enduring a life experience of incredible magnitude.Eventually the house lights dimmed for introductions. Thats when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich approached Kennedy and delivered a pep talk that Kennedy swears he remembers verbatim.You have more guts, you have more balls than anybody I know, Popovich told him. You have more courage than anybody I know. Now, go out there and kick ass.When Kennedy later called fellow NBA referee Scott Twardoski and shared Popovichs words with his friend, I could tell he was smiling as he was saying it. Through the phone I could tell how much that interaction meant. It was like, if you can have a smile and a tear in your eyes at the same time, thats how he came across on the phone.Three and a half minutes into the game, Kennedy whistled Rodney Hood for a shooting foul on LaMarcus Aldridge underneath, but Hood hadnt made contact with Aldridge. At the first opportunity, Kennedy walked over to Utah head coach Quin Snyder to acknowledge the error.I said, Hey, I kicked the play. Its an absolute wrong call, says Kennedy. [Snyder] looked at me and he goes, We dont get them all right. Youre OK.Like Buford, Snyder had any number of reactions available to him -- a simple nod of muted appreciation, a few grousing words under his breath, an imperative to Kennedy to make it up to the Jazz later in the game, silence. Presented with a full menu of options, Snyder composed a message that spoke to Kennedys professional pride, something Kennedy values as much as anything. To a man who was alone in the world that night, Snyder used the first person plural -- We dont get them all right.Kennedy has been the beneficiary of similar interactions this season from the likes of Blake Griffin, Steve Kerr and Mike Breen, each of whom made a point to approach Kennedy and honor his personal achievement. Those individuals, like Buford, Booker, Popovich and Snyder, exhibited awesome acts of generosity and it didnt cost them anything other than a mindful awareness of another mans burden. 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Andy Murray won Wimbledon, retained Olympic gold at Rio and ended the year as world No. 1 -- but the Scot was not the only reason why 2016 was such a remarkable year for British tennis.Heres a look at some of the highlights...Konta cracks top 10For the first time in 32 years, Britain has a player in the top 10 of the womens world rankings.Jo Kontas rise has been nothing less than extraordinary -- consider how, as recently as June 2015, she was outside the top 150.At this years Australian Open she became the first British woman to appear in the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament since Jo Durie in 1983. Durie was also the last British female to be in the top 10, way back in 1984.Murray the elder leads the wayJamie Murrays new partnership with Brazils Bruno Soares has brought him the most successful year of his career.After winning a first mens doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, he snaffled a second at the US Open.In between, he became the first Briton -- getting there before his younger brother -- to hold the No. 1 ranking for singles or doubles.With Andy following suit later in the year, the Murray brothers have now achieved something that eluded even the great John and Patrick McEnroe. Never before have two brothers been simultaneously at the top of the singles and doubles team rankings.Willbomb shocks WimbledonIn which other year has a British qualifier ranked No. 661 sent the most perfect lob over Roger Federers head on Centre Court?This years Wimbledon Championships will long be remembered for the improbable tale of Marcus Willis.The 26-year-old from Slough became the lowest-ranked qualifier to reach the second round at a Grand Slam since the 1988 US Open.What a turnaround for a man who once refuelled during changeovers with chocolate bars and cans of cola.?Evans goes toe-to-toe with Federer & WawrinkaDan Evans, once known as the rascal of British tennis, had the greatest season of his career with his ranking peaking at No. 53.It took Roger Federer to stop him at Wimbledon, in the third round, after Evans knocked out 30th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov along the way.At the US Open, and again in the third round, Evans had a point to beat Stan Wawrinka, who would not only salvage that but go all the way to winning the title.Edmund rises to the challengeAny 21-year-old who breaks into the top 40 -- as Kyle Edmund did this season -- is doing something right.As well as prospering on the circuit -- with a highlight being a run to the fourth round of the US Open, beating Richard Gasquet and John Isner along the way -- Edmund also played some fine tennis in Britains Davis Cup quarterfinal against Serbia in Belgrade.The tie was played just days after Andy Murray won Wimbledon and both he and Novak Djokovic sat it out, leaving Edmund to take centre stage by winning two singles rubbers.That took Britain, the defending Davis Cup champions, into a semifinal against Argentina in Glasgow. But unfortunatelyy that was where the run ended, with Murrays epic against Juan Martin Del Potro a stirring way to lose grip of the trophy.ddddddddddddWatson adds to the mixHeather Watsons victory in Wimbledons mixed doubles tournament -- in partnership with Finlands Henri Kontinen -- made her the first British woman to score a title on those lawns since Durie won the same trophy with compatriot Jeremy Bates in 1987.However, Watson did not perform as well as she would have liked in the singles, crashing out in the first round at three of the four Grand Slams in 2016.?... And then there was Andy, of courseAndy Murray achieved the unthinkable on Centre Court this year -- he ripped most of the stress and drama out of a Wimbledon final.If Murrays 2013 triumph was historic -- ending as it did a 77-year wait for a British male to win the nations most treasured tennis event -- it was also a match of great angst and tension capped by an epic final game where Murray had to save breakpoints against Novak Djokovic.Had he lost any one of those, Murrays afternoon -- and possibly career -- would have been flipped on its head.Its true that both the 2013 and 2016 finals were straight-sets victories for Murray. But it is there the similarities end.This years title-match, against Milos Raonic, was a one-sided affair -- It never looked as though Murray would lose. There was hardly even the smallest of kink in the narrative. Such was Murrays class as he won his third Grand Slam, and his first for three years.?Then it was on to Rio. While some tennis players are ambivalent about the Olympics, Andy Murray most definitely isnt.With his gold medal in Brazil -- captured after a brutal, four-hour victory over Juan Martin del Potro -- he became the first player in history to retain an Olympic singles title.How dearly Federer would like a singles gold medal, and Djokovic, too. Murray now has a couple of them. But here is the surest sign of Murrays resilience and determination -- that seven years passed between first becoming the world No. 2 and when ascending to the No. 1 ranking. Thats a record.At 29, Murray was also the oldest first-time No. 1 since 1974 (so the oldest of his lifetime).After all those years of trailing Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, Murray finally had true alpha status.Since the official rankings were introduced in 1973, only a very select group of men have held that status, with Murray only the 26th. And then his victory over Djokovic in London in November brought him membership of an even more elite club.For the first time in the history of the ATP World Tour Finals, the title-match determined who would end the year as the World No. 1.So, with his victory, Murray not only won the season finale for the first time but also became only the 17th different man to finish a season at the top of the standings. China Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China China NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Jerseys From China ' ' '