LOS ANGELES — Jason Collins, a 35-year-old center, signed a 10-day contract with the Nets
on Sunday afternoon and played against the Lakers hours later,
appearing in an N.B.A. uniform for the first time since last spring,
when he announced that he was gay.
The
signing represents a significant step toward transforming North
American professional sports into a more welcoming environment for gay
athletes. Until Sunday night, no N.B.A. game had taken place with an
openly gay player on the floor. The N.F.L., Major League Baseball and
the N.H.L. — the continent’s other three traditional major sports
leagues — have never had a publicly gay participant.
The
very act of Collins’s suiting up and stepping onto the court — he
entered the game to warm applause in the second quarter — represented a
milestone in the effort to change a sports culture that some feel has
lagged far behind society at large in acceptance of gay people. Collins
played 11 minutes in the Nets’ 108-102 victory, finishing with no
points, two rebounds, a steal and five fouls.
Collins
said he had little time to process it all. He awoke Sunday morning to
text messages from his agent and Nets Coach Jason Kidd alerting him to
the move, and hours later he was signing his contract. A few hours after
that, he was taking his physical and preparing to play his first game
since April 17.
“Right
now, I’m focused on trying to learn the plays, the game plan
assignment,” Collins, sitting at a lectern, said less than an hour
before the game Sunday night. “I don’t have time to really think about
history right now.”
The
sense of history was inevitable, though. It seemed noteworthy that the
first openly gay player in one of America’s major sports leagues would
play for a Brooklyn team. In 1947, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn
Dodgers became the first black player in modern baseball.
It
felt significant, too, that the Nets’ owner, Mikhail D. Prokhorov, is
from Russia, where President Vladimir V. Putin has come under intense
scrutiny for a law that bans gay “propaganda.”
“Today
Jason Collins tore open the last remaining closet in America,” said
Brian Ellner, a founding member of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit that raises
awareness about homophobia in sports. “This is a piece of history, an
important point on the continuum toward justice and a moment to
celebrate.”
Many
felt that such a moment was overdue. Last April, after spending the
2012-13 regular season with the Boston Celtics and the Washington
Wizards, Collins announced in a Sports Illustrated article that he was
gay.
He
was met with widespread support and earned a measure of celebrity — but
not a new contract to play basketball. He was not invited to any team’s
training camp and spent the last several months working out at his home
in Los Angeles, readying himself in case a team called.
Collins’s
arrival with the Nets began to take shape two weeks ago, when he worked
out for them in Los Angeles over the All-Star break. The Nets, who need
help with interior defense and rebounding, were also interested in Glen
Davis, who was bought out of his contract last week by the Orlando
Magic. With Davis appearing to be near an agreement with the Los Angeles
Clippers, though, the Nets shifted their focus on Sunday to Collins.
Collins,
like any N.B.A. player, can sign two consecutive 10-day contracts
before the Nets must sign him for the rest of the season or release him.
“The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision,” General Manager
Billy King said in a statement.
Collins
has never been a standout player as a pro — he has averaged 3.6 points,
3.8 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in his career — but he has consistently
earned plaudits for his professionalism and smarts on the court.
As
a Net, the 7-foot, 255-pound Collins will be valued for his ability to
provide a disciplined application of the coaches’ defensive scheme, to
read opponents’ movements and to communicate to teammates what he sees.
Collins will be a familiar face to many in and around the organization.
He spent his first six and a half seasons with the Nets, who reached the
N.B.A. finals twice in that span. It was during that time, too, that he
became good friends with Kidd, who is in his first season as the Nets’
coach.
Collins,
who has played for five other N.B.A. teams, played alongside Joe
Johnson when the two were with the Atlanta Hawks, and spent part of last
season with the Celtics, playing with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
Johnson, Garnett and Pierce are now his teammates. “Guys already know
what to expect from me,” Collins said. “I’m not going to magically have a
40-inch vertical and shoot 3s. My game has been pretty consistent, you
know. I‘m a defensive player first, and that’s what I pride myself on.”
Collins is re-entering an American sports landscape that has changed for gay athletes since he last played.
Robbie
Rogers, 26, came out publicly last February while simultaneously
announcing that he would retire from professional soccer. But Rogers
changed course in May, joining the Los Angeles Galaxy and going on to
play 11 games last season.
And
this month, Michael Sam, 24, announced that he was gay shortly after
completing a four-year college football career at Missouri. Football
analysts expect Sam, a highly regarded defensive lineman, to be selected
in May at the N.F.L. draft.
Adam
Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, commended Collins. “I know everyone in
the N.B.A. family is excited for him and proud that our league fosters
an inclusive and respectful environment,” he said in a statement.
There
was a poignancy to the night, even as Collins tried to play down its
significance. He wore a No. 46 jersey because it was the only shirt the
Nets had available, but he said he planned to wear No. 98 in his next
game, as he did last year. Collins has previously said that 98 is a
reference to the year Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was
murdered.
Collins was asked what message he might send to gay athletes who were watching him.
“My
message to other athletes, period, is just be yourself,” he said. “Be
your true, authentic self and never be afraid or ashamed or have any
fear to be your true authentic self.”
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