Jason Collins becomes NBA’s first active openly gay player

Collins, 35, last played under Kidd last season with the Brooklyn Nets. He only appeared in 22 games, mostly getting garbage minutes on a playoff contender, but became prominent around the country after announcing his sexuality in an SI article last year.

With that announcement, Collins became the first openly gay athlete actively playing in one of the four major American sports leagues. He’s since become one of the most public supporters of gay athletes in professional sports, using his platform to increase awareness and encourage a more inclusive environment for all people.

The 13-year-veteran made history last weekend when he became the first openly gay player to check into an NBA game. In four contests since signing that first 10-day contract on Feb. 23, the backup center has totals of three points, four rebounds and three steals in 34 minutes, providing his typical brand of solid post defense and setting hard screens.

Signing Collins to a 10-day contract on Wednesday means he will remain a Net until mid-March. After those 10 days, Brooklyn will have to sign him for the rest of the season if it intends to keep him around for the playoff run.

LOS ANGELES -- What I can tell you for sure is that no one was really talking about it. Even in the middle of this lost night-terror of a season, the streets around the Staples Center and the bars in downtown were talking about the Lakers. They were not talking about the historic aspect of what wound up being the team’s 37th loss of the season. The streets were flecked with gold jerseys and thick with them closer to the arena, and I was listening for it because I didn’t know what it would sound like.

But I didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. I heard Lakers fans bitch about Pau Gasol and their bosses and significant others, and heard them call Jordan Farmar and Nick Young by their first names. No one called Kent Bazemore “Bazed God” -- I mean, there was me, but I don’t count -- but there’s time for that.

While Collins has made history, he wants the focus to be on basketball and not his sexuality, via Tom Lorenzo of NetsDaily:

Collins really hammered the point home:

None of that means it’s any less significant.

Williams doesn’t see the latter as a locker room issue.