Jason Collins

Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Collins chose to wear No. 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder was widely reported as a hate crime and ultimately led to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Collins' jersey rose to the top spot for sales in the NBA's online shop, and the NBA announced that proceeds from the sales, as well as proceeds from auctions of Collins' autographed game-worn jerseys, would benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was an All-American in 2000–01.

Collins was selected by the Houston Rockets as the 18th overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft.

He went on to play for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets.

In 2001, Collins was named to All-Pac-10 first team, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) voted him to their third-team All-American team.

He finished his college career ranked first in Stanford history for field goal percentage (.608) and third in blocked shots (89).

He was measured 6 ft 10¼ in at the 2001 NBA combine.

Nets coach Jason Kidd, who became good friends with Collins while teammates in New Jersey from 2001 to 2008, was an advocate of signing Collins.

Collins played 11 minutes that night against the Lakers at the Staples Center, becoming the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues.

Collins wore jersey number 46 (the only number the team had available at the time) in his first game of the season, but planned to wear No. 98—the same number he wore with Boston and Washington—going forward.

As a rookie along with Richard Jefferson, Collins played a significant role in the New Jersey Nets' first-ever NBA Finals berth in 2002 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

During this Finals appearance, Collins acknowledged that he is not really 7 feet tall as he has been listed since his junior year of college.

In the 2002–03 NBA season Collins took over the starting center role for the Nets and helped the franchise back to the NBA Finals.

During that season, Collins averaged 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Prior to the 2004–05 season, he signed a $25 million contract extension with New Jersey for five more years.

On February 4, 2008, Collins was traded along with cash considerations to the Memphis Grizzlies for Stromile Swift.

On June 26, 2008, Collins was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves in an eight-player deal involving Kevin Love and O. J. Mayo.

Collins signed with the Atlanta Hawks on September 2, 2009.

Collins re-signed with the Hawks in the 2010 offseason.

In 2010–11, the fifth-seeded Hawks defeated the fourth-seeded Orlando Magic as Collins slowed the Magic's dominant center, Dwight Howard.

After Game 4 in the series, then-Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy called Collins' play "the best defense on [Howard] all year".

After the 2012–13 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay.

On July 31, 2012, Collins signed a contract with the Boston Celtics.

On February 21, 2013, Collins and Leandro Barbosa were traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Crawford.

On April 29, 2013, after the season had already concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay, becoming the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to publicly do so.

Collins became a free agent in July 2013, and stated that he intended to pursue another contract.

He was not invited by any team to training camp, but he worked out at his home waiting for an opportunity.

He became a free agent and did not play again until February 2014, when he signed with the Nets and became the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of four major North American pro sports leagues.

In April 2014, Collins was featured on the cover of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".

Collins was born in Los Angeles, California, in the Northridge neighborhood.

He was born eight minutes ahead of his twin brother Jarron, who also became an NBA player.

Both brothers graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles.

He and Jarron won two California Interscholastic Federation state titles during their four-year careers with a combined record of 123–10.

Collins broke the California career rebounding record with 1,500.

Collins was backed up by Jason Segel, who USA Today opined might have ended up being the most famous player from the team.

Collins played at Stanford University with brother Jarron for the Cardinal in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10).

On February 23, 2014, Collins signed a 10-day contract to rejoin the Nets, who had since moved to Brooklyn.

On March 5, 2014, Collins signed a second 10-day contract with the Nets.