Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in the NBA, has died of brain cancer at the age of 47, according to reports by multiple news outlets.
Collins came out publicly as a gay man in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story, one year before retiring in 2014. As ESPN reports, by coming out when he did, Collins not just the first openly gay player actively playing in the NBA, but “the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four main North American sports leagues.
Collins told ESPN last November that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive and very deadly form of brain cancer. Over this past winter, he went to Singapore to undergo an experimental treatment not yet approved in the U.S. ESPN noted today that those treatments allowed Collins to “return home, attend NBA All-Star Weekend events in Los Angeles and attend a game at his alma mater, Stanford.”
But the cancer recently returned, and Collins passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by family, according to a statement the family released through the NBA.
Also in that interview last November with ESPN, Collins said that when he came out in 2013, it wasn’t because of some looming scandal. “This was like, I feel that I am good enough to play in the NBA, and, by the way, I’m gay. Just so everyone knows, cards on the table, this is where I am,” he said.
Collins also told ESPN that after he came out, then-President Barack Obama called him and “and he said, ‘Congratulations — what you have done today will have a positive impact on someone you might not ever meet in your lifetime.’ I think that’s a really cool thing, and I want to do that again as far as having an opportunity to help someone that I might not ever meet in my lifetime.’”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement saying Collins’ “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
And the National Basketball Players Association said Collins’ “courage shattered barriers, making him a global beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community.”
— Tammye Nash
