Jason Collins has made history as begin the first NBA player to come out as openly gay!
The 37-year-old veteran of 713 games, first came out to his brother last summer before going public with his sexuality. He stated that he had been waiting for someone else to do it first, but since it didn’t look like anyone else would be doing it, he stepped up.
Collins’s brave move is garnering him lots of praise from fellow basketball players as well as celebrities and fans alike. Ellen Degeneres, who came out publicly in 1997, called Collins “very brave” and joking that “He’s seven-feet tall so when he came out of the closet, he had to duck.”
Kobe Bryant tweeting how proud he was of Collins saying, “Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others” and adding the words “courage” and “support.” International Tennis Hall of Famer, Billie Jean King, who was outed in the ’80s, also spoke out in support of Collins saying, “We’ve got to get rid of the shame. That’s the main thing. And Jason’s going to help that. He’s going to help give people courage to come out.”
Congrats to Jason Collins for owning who he is!