Jason Collins Comes Out as the NBA's First Openly Gay Basketball Player

Jason Collins, the center for the Washington Wizards, came out as openly gay during his article in the May 6th edition of Sports Illustrated, describing it as “a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders.” Collins made the announcement in an article he wrote himself for Sports Illustrated. He started the article by saying "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay." Collins also wrote in his article "I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

Collins' Cover for SI.

The support for Collins has been incredible. He’s received tons of messages from fellow NBA players, and even a phone call from the President.  "It was just your typical day when you speak to the president and Oprah," he cracked. 

There has been a string of hateful comments, though. On ESPN, the NBA analyst Chris Broussard, judging the NBA player on his religious beliefs, said that “living openly as a homosexual was a sin and that doing so was walking in an open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ.” A local homophobic minister has "way too much air time" bashing Collins' idea of coming out, Collins reported. A caller to NPR even suggested separate locker rooms and showers.

Despite hateful his comments, he has been outweighed by all the positive and helpful comments. Even his Twitter account had surged from 3,500 followers to 85,000 overnight.

Collins quoted on coming out: "Truthfully, this whole experience has been humbling and kind of overwhelming. What I'm doing has been done before in sports. There have been lots of other pioneers. I'm obviously the first to come out in this country in one of the four major pro sports -- basketball, baseball, football, hockey. But some people would put soccer up there, too, and Robbie Rogers has already blazed a trail there. I'm just trying to live my life authentically."

Rogers called Collins on his way to a LA Galaxy tryout and said, "It feels a little weird to congratulate you for being honest."

However, Collins' girlfriend of 8 years, Carolyn Moos, didn't know he was gay after all this time. "It's very emotional for me as a woman to have invested 8 years in my dream to have a husband, soul mate, and best friend in him." Even though the wedding was canceled for "the right reasons," she said, she still doesn't seemed depressed about him, saying that she "just wants him to be happy."

Collins has played for 12 seasons in the NBA, but has never shattered any scoring awards or even became a full-time starter, but he shattered an incredible barrier with his announcement. Jason Collins has even been compared to the Jackie Robinson of our era with his ground breaking achievement. As Jackie Robinson was the 1st black baseball player, Collins announcement of being the 1st openly gay basketball player could change the outcome of sports for the future.