{"id":1933735,"date":"2026-05-13T19:51:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1933735"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:51:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:51:29","slug":"jason-collins-wanted-us-to-know-theres-work-to-be-done-to-support-gay-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1933735","title":{"rendered":"Jason Collins wanted us to know \u2018there\u2019s work to be done\u2019 to support gay athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jason Collins and I had been talking over the phone for just under five minutes when we got to the meat of the discussion: Was Collins, who in 2013 emerged as the first active, openly gay player in NBA history, disappointed that more professional athletes haven\u2019t come out over the years?<\/p>\n

Collins paused for a couple of beats.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t know if disappointed would be the word,\u201d he said. \u201cI would always try to spin things in the way of there\u2019s work to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s with tremendous poignancy that I share with you that this conversation took place on May 12, 2025, exactly one year before Collins lost his battle against Stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.\u00a0 <\/span>He was 47.<\/p>\n

We had set up the interview for a piece I was writing on Pride month. Listening to the recording late Tuesday night after the news of Collins\u2019 death appeared on my phone, I was reminded how happy he sounded that day, how at peace he was, how much he was looking forward to his upcoming marriage to longtime boyfriend Brunson Green. The wedding would be taking place over Memorial Day weekend. \u201cI would have called earlier, but I was going over the wedding playlist,\u201d Collins told me.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Pride<\/p>\n
\n
\n Pride progress? As gay pro athletes consider coming out, each announcement makes a mark\n <\/div>\n
\n In the evolution of the openly gay athlete, there’s still “work to be done” before more active pro players decide to raise their hands.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

In December, barely six months after the wedding, Collins announced his cancer diagnosis. \u00a0And now, as we search for ways to honor this brave, forward-looking man, I\u2019d like to offer Collins\u2019 own words from that interview.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s begin with the line about the playlist, and about \u201cgetting the tents, getting the food, getting the DJ, yada yada yada.\u201d He mentioned an upcoming call with the wedding planner, which got him giggling for a couple of seconds.<\/p>\n

In talking about tents and DJs, and laughing about it, Collins was offering a splendid example of how he was, indeed, enjoying a peaceful, happy life after his coming-out essay for Sports Illustrated<\/a> appeared online on April 29, 2013, and in the magazine\u2019s May 6 print edition.<\/p>\n

Collins was a free agent at the time. He later signed with the Brooklyn Nets, with whom he closed out his NBA career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So there\u2019s that message from Jason Collins. He came out. He was accepted.<\/p>\n

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\"Jason<\/p>\n
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\n Jason Collins speaks with the media before the Brooklyn Nets\u2019 road game against the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 27, 2014. (Justin Edmonds \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Collins other message is his reminder that there\u2019s work to be done.<\/em>\u00a0What beautiful, brilliant diplomacy by Collins. Asked if he was disappointed that more athletes in North American men\u2019s team sports haven\u2019t come out, he needed just those couple of beats to craft a response that was devoid of dark clouds and tsk-tsking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Disappointed? Nope. Not at all. Apparently, in Collins\u2019s view, that would have been scorekeeping. And scorekeeping, by definition, is all about keeping track of what\u2019s happened in the past. Collins chose to look to the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would always try to spin things in the way of there\u2019s work to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Jason<\/p>\n
\n
\n Jason Collins, first openly gay active player in NBA history, dead at 47 after cancer treatments\n <\/div>\n
\n Collins announced in December that he was undergoing treatment for Stage 4 glioblastoma, a severe form of brain cancer.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

During our conversation, Collins talked about other professional athletes who have come out, including NFL defensive end Carl Nassib and professional soccer player Robbie Rogers. But in doing so, Collins pointed out that the team he was playing for appeared in the NBA playoffs after he came out, just as Nassib and Rogers made playoff appearances in their leagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround the time, a little bit before I made my announcement, there was a rumor of four NFL players who were going to come out, an all-together kind of thing,\u201d Collins told me. \u201cThat obviously never happened. But I hope that those athletes that are considering coming out look to my example, my team making the playoffs, beating the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 on the road \u2026 Robbie winning the MLS Cup \u2026 Carl Nassib\u2019s example, his team making it to the playoffs \u2026 there are those examples of male athletes being able to speak and live your truth but also being able to help your teams compete for postseason play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Jason<\/p>\n
\n
\n Jason Collins, 10 years after coming out, on LGBTQ+ in sports, the NHL and more\n <\/div>\n
\n Ten years ago, Collins openly announced his sexual orientation and shared his story with the world.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Collins was always very proud of those 22 games he played for the 2013-14 Nets. He was\u00a0always proud that he dressed for those seven playoff games against the Raptors, even though he didn\u2019t get into any of them. He was always very proud that he wrote his coming-out essay and then happily went on with his life, from playing basketball to assembling a wedding playlist to tying the knot with the man he referred to as \u201cBrunce\u201d during our phone interview.<\/p>\n

And any athlete in any sport who\u2019s considering coming out will be proud to know that Jason Collins left a message. He left the message to all of us, actually.<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey definitely exist, those athletes who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, and, again, it goes back to there\u2019s work to be done, as to why they don\u2019t feel comfortable, safe, to speak up,\u201d Collins said. \u201cBut we have to continue to create an environment where they see that if and when they are ready to speak up, that they will be supported and accepted for who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a trace of disappointment. Just a forward-looking observation that there\u2019s work to be done.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Jason Collins\u2019 legacy, right there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Collins and I had been talking over the phone for just under five minutes when we got to the meat of the discussion: Was Collins, who in 2013 emerged as the first active, openly gay player in NBA history, disappointed that more professional athletes haven\u2019t come out over the years? Collins paused for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1933735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1933735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1933735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1933735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1933735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}