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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. Isolation is a force multiplier of lifes struggles. Recognition, bearing witness and a little human contact can bring real relief. A touch, a few words, an expression of empowerment, a willingness to let something go. Small acts of generosity that play big.Adidas Yeezy For Sale . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Cheap Yeezy Boost 350 .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. http://www.yeezyforcheap.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Yeezy Boost 350 v2 For Sale . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Yeezy Boost 350 For Sale .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night.ROME -- Serena Williams is on the longest winning streak of her career. And she feels better than ever at age 31. The top-ranked American rolled past Spanish opponent Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 Friday to reach the Italian Open semifinals and extend her victory run to 22 matches. Williams had twice won 21 in a row before, although both of those streaks came a decade ago, in 2002 and 2003. Martina Navratilova established the longest womens win streak in the Open Era at 74 matches in 1984. "Ive been pretty consistent, and pretty healthy -- knock on wood," Williams said. "I feel great -- never felt better." In the other half of the draw, two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova withdrew before her quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Sara Errani due to illness. In mens action, 36th-ranked Benoit Paire of France routed Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-1, 6-0 to reach his first Masters series semifinal. His next opponent will be either 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer or rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz, who were playing in a night match. Showing off near-perfect form less than 10 days before the French Open, Williams has dropped just three games in her last two matches. Against the 22nd-ranked Suarez, the American hit winners seemingly at will. The 15-time Grand Slam winner has also won her previous three tournaments. Willliams will next face either two-time Rome winner Jelena Jankovic or Romanian qualifier Simona Halep, who were playing later on an overcast day at the Foro Italico.dddddddddddd Williams only title at this clay-court tournament came in 2002, when she beat Justine Henin in the final. That was also the year she won her only French Open title. Last year in Paris, Williams suffered her first ever opening-round loss in a major, falling to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France. Sharapova said he was struggling with an illness she first contracted last week, when she was runner-up to Williams in the Madrid Open, although she showed no problems Thursday as she beat 16th-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1. "I was already a bit off in Madrid and played though it and it came back last night and I got sick again and its not smart to compete again," said Sharapova, adding that she had a fever after beating Stephens. "Obviously with the French Open coming up it is important to make smart decisions." The withdrawal means Errani advances to the semifinals. The Italians opponent will be either third-seeded Victoria Azarenka or ninth-seeded Sam Stosur. The last Italian to reach the semifinals in this tournament was Raffaella Reggi, who won the 1985 event, which was held in the southern city of Taranto. The French Open begins May 26. ' ' '