Jason Collins comes out as gay

NEW YORK (AP)

NBA veteran center Jason Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay.

Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website.

In the article, Collins writes: "I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

"Why am I coming out now?" Collins continued in the piece. "Well, I started thinking about this in 2011 during the NBA player lockout. I'm a creature of routine. When the regular season ends I immediately dedicate myself to getting game ready for the opener of the next campaign in the fall. But the lockout wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want. With the season delayed, I trained and worked out. But I lacked the distraction that basketball had always provided."

The 34-year-old Collins has played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons and appeared in two NBA Finals.

He finished this past season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent. After averaging 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds over his career, he says he wants to continue playing.
By skibear | 04/29/2013 12:28 PM | 5 comments
Comments are disabled for this blog post.
  • Hard to say what his prospects are for playing more. He is a 7-footer and big men can play a long time. But he's 34 and didn't play much last year for a really bad team. If his NBA career is over it would be hard to say that coming out publicly was the reason for it. His career would appear to be about over anyway. But here's hoping he lands a new gig. Maybe the announcement will actually help him. The NBA of the major sports is probably most personality driven and the novelty of being gay might make him more marketable.
    BearinFW 04/29/2013 06:28 PM
  • Wow. Been waiting a long time for this. I don't know that it counts completely, as he's a journeyman free agent. It'll be interesting to see if his career is over. But he isn't a retired player, at least, so it's still a milestone. It is very brave of him considering that he's looking for a job, especially.
    BearinFW 04/29/2013 04:44 PM
  • Wow, he waited a long time and repressed a lot in the process.

    I think that is something about being gay that straights will NEVER understand; the horrendous anguish (mostly in the past now) some guys go through before telling anyone they are gay. Gays in the past had good reason to be closeted. Gay sex was actually illegal and gays could be fired from a job or thrown out of a rented place. Bullying and ridicule were common. More often back then families actually disowned sons and daughters.

    Bold moves like Jason's help make sexuality a non-issue . . . . as it should be.
    rjzip 04/29/2013 03:07 PM
  • Why he had to say he was black too is beyond me. Some things are just obvious.
    fenwaydav 04/29/2013 02:23 PM
  • Here's Jason's Sports Illustrated article.

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20 … ;eref=sihp
    skibear 04/29/2013 12:42 PM