Last year, Jason Collins became the first active NBA player to come out of the closet. He did so on his own terms, giving a lengthy interview to Sports Illustrated about his love of the game, his sexuality, and how he could no longer live in the closet. Collins was a free agent at the time, and he hasn’t played on a team since last April. Until last night! Yesterday, the Brooklyn Nets were the first team in NBA history to sign an openly gay player.
Does it make a difference if they only signed Jason to a 10-day contract? Maybe, maybe not. I believe that the Nets deserve some applause for being the first team brave enough/smart enough to sign Jason, even if it’s just for a short period. And hey, maybe they’ll sign him for longer after the 10 days are done. When Jason came on the court yesterday (the Nets were playing the Lakers, in LA), the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Isn’t that cool? I think it’s cool.
And here’s what made me cry a little this morning: Jason plans to wear the number “98” in honor of Matthew Shepard, the young college student who was murdered in a hate crime in 1998 in Wyoming. Collins wore “98” with the Wizards and the Celtics too, but this time Jason will be wearing the number as an openly gay man. *applause*
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Congrats to him!
I’m probably going to take some flak for this post…first let me say that I think it’s awesome he’s an openly gay player. That being said, he did AWFUL in the game, and I don’t get why this has to be news. I’m waiting for when someone ‘coming out’ isn’t newsworthy. I thought the point of his coming out was to fight for equality, but all this news about him and his contract just singles him out as a ‘different’ person even more to me, especially when he’s not that great if a player. It’s like the only reason why his contract is news is because he’s gay. Just my opinion, I’d like to hear your thoughts. Still congrats to him.
No flack from me. It shouldn’t matter whether someone is gay or straight and it shouldn’t be newsworthy either.
It has to be newsworthy when it’s the first.
The first professional athletes who were black were news back in the day too.
As more gay athletes play who are gay play in the open as gay, people will stop caring.
This is great news for all the gay 12 year olds out there, even if the general public is a bit aggravated about it, and don’t see why why it matters. This is a great start to help end all the gay teen suicides, to see that gay people are not monsters.
JOH- fair enough, I still don’t understand how he got the contract though when he’s really not that great of a player (and I thought he was on the verge of retiring? Maybe I misheard that somewhere).
Congrats to him, but why only 10 days?
To assess his level of skill maybe. It’s not uncommon to have short contracts. It can mean they wanted to snatch him up so another team couldn’t orthey’re working out a possible trade deal and he was a good bargaining chip.
Only 10 days because Jason is actually towards the end of his career and they use 10 day contracts to see if a player will fit in and bring something to the team. He has been a journeyman player, filling in gaps where teams need a tall man to block shots and bang in the paint, but never a star or even part of a regular rotation. That said, he is a good guy and we miss him here on the Celtics. He has friends in Garnett and Pierce on the Nets so he should be okay.
thank you for explaining.
Thanks from me as well.
I wondered the same thing but I read the story on ESPN and apparently it’s really common as a lot of teams do this while hammering out a full contract. They also have the option to sign him for another 10 days but after that they have to either sign him for full season or release him.
I don’t know what happened to ’98’ as I think he was wearing ’46’. I hope he does get to wear it because Matthew Shepherd’s story is in the never-forget category.
It takes some time before he can get the #98 so #46 is his temporary #
Hopefully he will get signed for another contract.
Michael Sam NFL hopeful tweeted his support to him.Jason was part of the team that helped Michael with media training before he came out.Good Luck to both.
Ugh. That Shephard story was horrific. i kind of forgot all about it.
Good for him on several fronts. And for bringing attention back to a tragic death.
Ultimately if he’s talented and helps the team earn wins he could paint himself like the gay pride flag and no one will care. It always comes back to how profitable the person is.
Congrats to him! More players in the hypermasculine world of sports should be so brave.
I don’t really understand the ten day thing.
Firstly; he’s really cute. Secondly; I get a warm feeling that as a society we’re growing. I think we have a long way to go in our understanding and tolerance of others. But I’d like to think we’re slowly getting there. I wish him a successful year.
The NBA uses 10 day contracts to see if a player fits into the team mix. Collins is at the end of his career, age-wise and skill-wise, so a 10 day makes sense. I hope it works out for him as he is a good guy.
As above — thanks for explaining. I don’t know much about the NBA.
10 days is better than no days. Gives him some opportunity to show the team he is worth investing in. Props to him for the #98.
Very true.
Teams need to see that being gay isn’t really that big of a deal.
Hottie!
they only signed him because he’s gay, he’s not that good, it’s just a publicity stunt
Well good for them
That’s better than NOT signing a player because he is Gay or rumored to be Gay.
For that matter its better than NOT hiring anybody simply because they are Gay.
I’ll take publicity stunt in a pinch, if it means that people will be more accepting. It’s scraping the barrel in terms of good reasons, but as long as it achieves the goal, what the hey. I’m already dreaming of a day when this (along with other athletes being openly gay) means high schools sports will be less vicious toward gays.
Congrats and good luck Jason
Jason Collins played for the Nets years ago at the beginning of his career when the Nets were still in NJ. And if I remember correctly, the current Nets coach Jason Kidd was the point guard at the time. So probably not just a publicity stunt. Jason Kidd is in his first year of coaching and he wants to win. Why shouldn’t he try out the skills of a former teammate to see if he fits in?
Good luck to him – the 10 day thing sounds like a paid try-out, I hope he does well.