Breaking Barriers: Jason Collins' Courageous Coming Out

On April twenty ninth, twenty thirteen, NBA veteran sinner Jason Collins publicly comes out as gay, becoming the first active gay athlete in any of the four major North American pro sports. Here's the story behind this iconic moment in sports history today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day now. Jason was born in Los Angeles, California, a healthy baby, and then just eight minutes after he was born, his parents got a surprise with another healthy baby, his brother Jaron, and the two would stick together all the way up to the NBA winning state titles while in high school. And the two brothers would grow up to be six feet ten inches tall and both weighing over two hundred and twenty five pounds, and they caught the eye of many colleges, and they both decided to stay in California and go to Stanford University. And they were both able to further their skills, but Jason really stood out. Was named to the All Pack ten team and was a third team All American, which led him to be drafted eighteenth overall by the New Jersey Nets in two thousand and one, and his brother would be drafted that same year, but in the second round at number fifty two, and Jason was in luck he had joined a great team. In his rookie year, the then New Jersey Nets made their first ever NBA Finals, facing off against the Lakers, where Collins was a strong contributor, but their team was no match for the Lakers dynasty. But the following year, Collins took over the starting center role and helped the franchise get back to the NBA Finals. They again met the Lakers and lost, but Collins showed he had a knack for defense and was a solid center, and he was able to sign a twenty five million dollar contract with the New Jersey Nets for the next five years. Now, the Nets never experienced that success again, and the final year of Jason's contract, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he would play out that year, and then again be traded to the Timberwolves and he would play out the final year of his contract. Then he chose to sign with the Atlanta Hawks in two thousand and nine and in twenty ten, helping lead them to the playoffs. He would bounce around a few more times, signing with Boston and then being traded to the Washington Wizards in twenty thirteen. And this is when everything started to change. See when he got traded to the Wizards in twenty eleven, there was an NBA lockout where the players would not play until they got an agreement with the league for a new collective bargaining agreement. And this lasted over five months from July to December, which caused the season to be shortened to sixty six games. And this also changed a lot for the players. See, players are constantly working out, even in the off season, and they have a schedule they work out in the off season and to get ready for the season to start around October. But when the season didn't start in October, Jason didn't really know what to do, and he actually got to spend some time finding out about himself. That's really when he realized that he was gay in deep down hit something he always knew. He just couldn't bring himself to really pay attention to his feelings. He thought he always needed that story book life. Find a wife, get married, have kids, and as a devout Christian. He truly did believe that, but this time off from everything he knew really allowed him the chance to understand. Even for many years previously, he had dated former WNBA center Carolyn Moves for eight years, all the way back to when they were both at Stanford in college, and they were actually engaged to be married in two thousand and nine until Collins called the whole thing off. Now Carolyn didn't know why he called it off until he made his big announcement. See, Jason still struggled with his sexuality. There's always that locker room mentality where men are always talking about the women there with and he just wouldn't join in and just always felt awkward during those moments. But it was when he finally got traded to the Washington Wizards, where he was feeling comfortable with the Boston Celtics. Something with the Wizards really changed who he was. He realized he needed to live who he was. After coming out to his aunt Terry, who was a Supreme Court judge in San Francisco, who told him she had known he was gay for years, he felt more comfortable. And seeing a former teammate of his, Joe Kennedy, who was a Massachusetts congressman walked at the March Gay Pride Parade. Really gave him envy, and it was time for him to come out to everyone. So he called up his agent and said, we need to talk. And his agent was freaking out because normally that means you're getting fired, but he told him, no, don't worry about that. He met with his agent and told him everything. Now. This was still during the twenty thirteen season with the Wizards, and Jason said he wanted to wait till after the season because he didn't want the team to have to deal with all the publicity he would get. And eventually he would come out to parents and his brother who were all surprised but all supported him as long as he was happy, and they made plans on how to tell the world, and his family and his agent talked about how they wanted to do this. They could do a TV special, or they could do print, and if they do print, they could do the New York Times or Sports Illustrated, as he had a childhood friend who wrote for the Sports Illustrated magazine and because of his friend would allow him to write a first person narrative in his own words and that's what they chose, and the article was to come out on a Monday in the middle of the day, and when it came out, the news was all over. It not only covered by ESPN, but covered by every major media outlet, as this was the first active NBA player who had come out of the closet for any major sport in North America. But what really surprised Jason is how much support he actually got. There were NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant praising the decision. The commissioner of the league, David Stern, as well as President and First Lady Brock and Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton, as well as corporate sponsors like Nike, were all supporting the decision, giving Jason the feelings of support he had never thought he would see. But Jason was still a free agent. The question was would he get signed by a new team, and despite the support from players in the league, no one signed him. He was older he was he just finished his twelfth season, and not a high scoring player, as during his career he only averaged three point six points a game and three point seven rebounds. He was more of a defensive stopper with a high motor and a pros pro type of player. So the twenty thirteen twenty fourteen season starts and Jason does not have a contract. He makes it clear that he's not retired yet and is continuing to work out, but no team is signing him until twenty fourteen. On February twenty third, the team that drafted him, the Nets, who are coached by his former teammate Jason Kidd, signs him to a ten day contract where he wears number ninety eight in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay man who is a part of a hate crime that led to his death, and he finally made his first appearance on an NBA court as the first openly gay player. He would then go on to sign another ten day contract and then on March fifteenth, they would sign him for the rest of the year, and following that season, Jason would go on to retire, become an advocate for gay rights everywhere and a symbol for multiple athletes to come out of the cause as well. Sometimes being in the first can mean a lot. We don't know always how it's going to work out. Some cases it can be the worst thing, but you never know until you try, try, and being the first can give you so much more than you ever thought of. To step out and be the face of something, just like Jason did. It changed his career because before then, no one out outside of major NBA fans knew who Jason was. And now the whole nation knew who Jason Collins was and it changed everything for him and the future of gay rights and athletics. And we hope that you don't mind being the first and whatever you do, and help support us here at Daily Sports History by sharing this story with a friend by hitting the share button wherever you're listening and sending it to a friend or telling them all about it where of mouth is the best way for us to continue to grow. And the more we can grow, the more we can give you great stories every single day. Come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History.