Jason Collins, the first openly gay active pro athlete in a major U.S. professional sport, has announced his retirement from the NBA.
The former center will make it official Wednesday night at the Barclays Center, where the Brooklyn Nets play.
“It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete to appear in a game in one of those leagues,” Collins wrote in a column for this week’s SI. “It feels wonderful to have been part of these milestones for sports and for gay rights, and to have been embraced by the public, the coaches, the players, the league and history.”
In his latest essay, Collins touched on the warm reception he received both on the road and at home. He said that his most poignant moment came when he met the family of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student beaten to death in a 1998 hate crime on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.
For the past two seasons, Collins has donned a No. 98 jersey in Shepard’s memory. After he came out, that Brooklyn Nets jersey became the NBA’s top seller.
“There are still no publicly gay players in the NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball,” Collins wrote his piece. “Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them. I know some of them personally. When we get to the point where a gay pro athlete is no longer forced to live in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.”
Of note: Michael Sam became the first openly gay athlete drafted into the NFL, but after short stints with the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys, he is currently a free agent.
You can read the rest of Collins’ column in this week’s Sports Illustrated.
And watch an accompanying video below, where Collins discusses his career, legacy and retirement: