NBA’s Brooklyn Nets First To Sign Gay Player Jason Collins!

February 24, 2014

jason-collins-blogJason Collins became the first openly gay athlete in North America’s four major professional sports Sunday, signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

Via ESPN reports:

Collins checked in with 10:28 to go in the second quarter and received a round of applause from the Staples Center crowd.

 

“Sometimes in life something happens and there’s an opportunity,” he said shortly before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night. “I’m very thankful for this opportunity. That’s why I work so hard, why I train the way I do so that when I do have an opportunity physically I’m not worried about my conditioning or cardio or anything along those lines.”

 

“The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision,” Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. “We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract.”

 

The Nets tweeted out a picture of Collins signing his contract.

 

Collins will wear No. 98 for the Nets, but was unable to

wear it Sunday because it was not available in time for the game against the Lakers, so he wore No. 46 instead.

Collins’ choice of the No. 98 is in honor of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who died in a notorious anti-gay hate crime in 1998. Collins has worn the jersey number with both the Celtics and Wizards.

The Nets moved quickly to make the historic signing of the 35-year-old free agent center to have another big body available against the Lakers. Brooklyn had been contemplating signing Collins for the past week and the need for Collins became greater after the Nets dealt rebounding specialist Reggie Evans to the Sacramento Kings last week.

 

“Life is so much better for me. I don’t have to hide who I am. Just be my normal self,” Collins said. “The past 10 months have been incredible. A lot of really cool experiences, learning a lot, making new friends and hearing peoples’ stories. Overall, it’s been really positive.”

jasoncollines

Openly NFL baller Michael Sam tweeted this to Jason:

sam

Collins averaged 1.1 ppg and 1.6 rpg last season. The Nets can say they need him to contribute all they want, but allot of people think this a publicity stunt.

What do you think?


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Harlem World Magazine, 2521 1/2 west 42nd street, Los Angeles, CA, 90008, https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
We're your source for local coverage, we count on your support. SPONSOR US!
Your support is crucial in maintaining a healthy democracy and quality journalism. With your contribution, we can continue to provide engaging news and free access to all.
accepted credit cards

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles