Having a more open mind as a whole about this, and having more visibility for gay players, will also lead to more gay kids feeling more comfortable and sticking with the game longer, pursuing it farther, not being alienated at a young age because there's nobody 'like them' to look up to, nobody speaking out against homophobic 'locker room talk' that could lead to them not feeling as welcome or not following through with basketball as hard.

Basically, having the pool of people to choose from also open to gay people in a bigger way will lead to more talent in the league. Like how when cheerleading squads would ONLY pick from half of the population vs having men on the teams now, I'm sure the skill bar has risen (not to men inherently being better or anything, just by having a larger pool to pick from.)