Professional athletes fathering of out-of-wedlock
children is the focus of a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED special report
this week, with a cover photo of Khalid Minor, son of
Celtics G Greg Minor, above the header, "Where's Daddy?"
The cover sub-head reads: "Pro athletes have fathered
startling numbers of out-of-wedlock children. One NBA star
has seven by six women. Paternity cases have disrupted
teams. What's happening, and what does it mean for the kids
left behind?" The story, by Wahl, Wertheim, Munson &
Yaeger, chronicles the case of many pro athletes, most of
whom declined to be interviewed for the piece (SI, 5/2).
TWO EXAMPLES: One source at the Sonics told SI that
Shawn Kemp's "well-publicized meltdown while playing with
Seattle last year resulted primarily from the increasing
pressures of paternity and child support obligations." In
New England, Patriots VP/Public & Community Relations Don
Lowery mentions the team's role in working with RB Dave
Meggett, who "became entangled in ... paternity
obligations." Lowery: "We didn't want to get involved in
this, but this was one of our key players, who had the
potential of not playing because he could be arrested. It
was a distraction for the organization, no question about
that." But Richard Lapchick of Northeastern's Center for
the Study of Sport in Society doubts that sports has higher
incidents of out-of-wedlock children than other high-paying
professions: "My guess is that if FORTUNE looked at CEOs and
another magazine looked at the entertainment industry, you'd
see similar numbers." Wahl, Wertheim, Munson & Yaeger add
that athletes "are anything but deadbeat dads. Once
paternity has been established, athletes are among the most
reliable at paying support" (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 5/4 issue).