After announcing he’s gay back in April, Jason Collins, formerly of the Washington Wizards, signed a short-term, 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets making him the first openly gay player in any of the four major national sports league franchises in North America.
The Nets Tweeted Sunday, “Official: The #Nets have signed @jasoncollins34 to a 10-day contract.” The team also added a snapshot of Collins signing the historic contract.
He made his debut on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers where he played for approximately ten scoreless minutes in the second quarter which included five fouls and two rebounds. Collins, however, was unable to wear his trademark number 98 as it was not ready in time. Collins explained that he wears that number as a tribute to Matthew Shepard who was brutally and senselessly murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998.
“The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision,” Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. “We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract.”
The Nets are an organization filled with Collins supporters and experienced players less likely to be fazed by the likely media blitz that the signing will inevitably spark. Over the last couple of days, several Nets players have publicly voiced their support for signing Collins. “Guys know what to expect from me,” Collins said. “They’re not like ‘he’s magically gonna have a 40-inch vertical and shoot 3s.’ My game has been pretty consistent. I’m a defensive player first, and that’s what I pride myself on. Now it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with coverages and assignments.”
Upon entering Staples Center, the audience broke out into a huge round of applause for Collins.
Upon news of the signing the Tweets started. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York wrote:
Michael Sam, who recently came out himself and is widely expected to be the first openly gay football player in the NFL after the draft picks in May, Tweeted his congratulations to Collins: “Congratulations to my friend @jasoncollins34 – excited to see you do work out there #courage #groundbreaking.”
And finally, to round off a historic day for major league sports and particularly the NBA Collins Tweeted:
