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Collins wrote the essay for Sports Illustrated, which was posted on April 29, 2013. It was the cover story for the magazine’s May 6 print edition. “We knew it was going to be online at 11 a.m. Eastern time,” Collins said. “I was living in Los Angeles at the time. There were people I felt should hear it from me first, so that weekend, there were a lot of phone calls that were being made.”
About an hour before the story appeared, Collins was on the phone with then-NBA commissioner David Stern and then-deputy commissioner Adam Silver. “They were extremely supportive,” Collins said. “I couldn’t have done what I did without seeing what the leadership of the NBA was doing. When I first entered the NBA in 2001, players were allowed to use homophobic language without consequences. That changed in the mid-to-late 2000s. There started to be fines for using homophobic language. When I saw those fines being levied, especially with a minimum fine of $50,000 being implemented, that to me was a sign that NBA leadership has my back.”
Former Nets player, and the first openly gay athlete in the NBA, Jason Collins married his longtime partner, Brunson Green, recently. The couple reportedly tied the knot over the Memorial Day weekend in a ceremony in Austin, Texas, after the two had been together for more than a decade.
Jason Collins is a married man. The first publicly out active gay NBA player married his husband, film producer Brunson Green, over the weekend in Austin, Texas, where they now live. Collins and Green have been a couple for about a decade. They got engaged to marry, according to some people who say they were there, at the Los Angeles Lakers Pride Night in 2023.
When you saw the Sports Illustrated article published, what were your immediate thoughts and feelings? Seeing yourself on the cover, seeing your words — everything. Jason Collins: My immediate thought was … great photo. (Laughs) Kwaku Alston was the photographer for that, and we took a lot of different photos. … But just the public response and outpouring of support — heck, even President Obama and the White House commented on it — that was really cool. This was 2013. What was the public reaction like following the announcement? And what’s the public reaction like now? Is there a compare/contrast going on? Jason Collins: I think for male athletes, it’s still (like it was). When female athletes come out, everyone is like, “OK, cool, go in.” But we’re still not there yet. We need more and more male athletes to step forward so that we can get to that day when after the game is over, everyone’s significant other is in the family room waiting for them along with everybody else’s, regardless of gender. We still have work to do with regards to male athletes.
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Do you feel the NBA has made legitimate strides with equality, DEI procedures, human rights, LGBTQ+ rights, etc.? Jason Collins: Definitely. First, I think the WNBA is leading the way. You’ve got to give the women credit and acknowledge that. Right after the WNBA is the NBA, as far as supporting our athletes and encouraging our athletes to speak up. In the (2020) bubble, we changed the names on jerseys. (It was) not only with our words but with our actions and with our money. … There’s a lot wrapped into there through the NBA Foundation, great work that’s been done, but specifically with LGBTQ+ issues, being a league to march in the (NYC) Pride parade, moving the All-Star Game out of Charlotte, N.C., because of discriminatory legislation going on at the time — and that led to the governor getting voted out of office. There are ways the NBA and WNBA continue to lead, in my opinion, all of the sports leagues.
Jason Collins: Here at the #WhiteHouse to witness the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. So proud to represent my family and my @nba family for this historic day.
Here at the #WhiteHouse to witness the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. So proud to represent my family and my @nba family for this historic day. pic.twitter.com/sXDeBvyQx6
— Jason Collins (@jasoncollins98) December 13, 2022
Not long after Jason Collins came out publicly in 2013, becoming the first openly gay player in the NBA, he received a call from an unlikely voice of support. Tim Hardaway was on the other line. “I was just surprised. I didn’t know he was going to call me. And I think that was intentional. He didn’t want to get publicity,” Collins said in an interview with the Daily News. The call came about six years after the point guard’s homophobic and hateful comments in a radio interview. Hardaway’s words were over the top in their vitriol – “I hate gay people ... I don’t want to be around them … It shouldn’t be in our world” – and became yet another reason for gay athletes to keep their sexuality a secret.
This weekend, Hardaway, is headed to Springfield as not only a marquee member of the 2022 Naismith Hall of Fame class, but also a public ally of the gay community. It was a transformation familiar to Collins. “It’s something that many people in the LGBTQ community are very familiar with, as far as having a family member who is negative when you make your announcement. They might start off on one end of the spectrum as far as not being supportive and being homophobic,” Collins said. “But then over time of having more exposure and more education, then they become an ally and next thing you know they’re at the Pride parade celebrating. That’s literally how it happened with Tim.”
Now, with the benefit of time and reformation and a surprise phone call nearly a decade ago, Collins is excited for Hardaway’s induction into the Hall of Fame. “Extremely happy for him,” Collins said. “He’s definitely a Hall of Famer. His crossover is legendary.”
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Jason Collins, a retired American player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), will deliver the Middlebury College Commencement address to the Class of 2020 at an in-person ceremony on Tuesday, May 31. The class’s Commencement ceremony was delayed until this year due to COVID-19. Collins briefly greeted the graduates in their Commencement video in 2020 but will give full remarks at their ceremony this May.
Magic Johnson: I had a great time this morning at the NBA Legends Awards where I presented the Legend of the Year award to Jerry West! It was great to catch up with my Showtime teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, Dikembe Mutombo, Isiah Thomas and Jason Collins. pic.twitter.com/640K0NBRxm
I had a great time this morning at the NBA Legends Awards where I presented the Legend of the Year award to Jerry West! It was great to catch up with my Showtime teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, Dikembe Mutombo, Isiah Thomas and Jason Collins. pic.twitter.com/640K0NBRxm
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 20, 2022
When Jason Collins stepped onto the court on Feb. 23, 2014, as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, it was a historic event: He was the first openly gay player in the National Basketball Association, and this was his first time in uniform since he had come out. Among the thousands cheering him on in Los Angeles, in a game against the Lakers, were his uncle, Mark Collins, and Mark’s husband, Tony Murray. “Congratulations,” they said to Mr. Collins over drinks after the game. “We love you.”
They also paved the way for Jason to come out to his family by showing them that gay men were nothing to be afraid of. Some relatives had difficulty accepting that Mark Collins was gay — until they met Tony. “I think once we saw how Mark and Tony were, the love they had for each other, we knew Mark was going to be fine,” Mr. Collins, who played for six teams in a 13-year N.B.A. career, said in a phone interview. Mr. Murray died on March 16 at a hospital in Valley Stream, N.Y. He was 60. The cause was Covid-19, Mark Collins said.
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