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 He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinals where he was an AllAmerican in 200001 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 After the 201213 NBA season concluded Collins publicly came out as gay He became a free agent and did not play again until February 2014 when he signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the major professional sports leagues in the United States In April 2014 Collins was featured on the cover of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World Since coming out Collins has worked towards making sports more inclusive for LGBTQ people He currently works for the NBA as a community ambassador and believes the league is at the forefront of diversity and conclusion On August 2 2013 Collins was among the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame