Jason Collins’ NBA career was relatively uneventful. He spent 13 years in the league, playing for the then-New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and now the Brooklyn Nets. Collins averaged just 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, playing primarily as a backup, defensive-minded big man.
However, in 2013, while still playing, he made history by becoming the first openly gay player in the NBA. He was also the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to acknowledge his sexual orientation publicly. Now, he has another story to tell, but this time, it’s not a good one.
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In a letter published by ESPN, the Stanford product revealed that he’s dealing with Stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer:
“I have Stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. It came on incredibly fast,” Collins wrote. “According to my family, in hours, my mental clarity, short-term memory and comprehension disappeared — turning into an NBA player’s version of “Dory” from “Finding Nemo.” Over the next few weeks we would find out just how bad it was.”
After describing his symptoms and diagnosis, the former first-round pick continued by looking back on his life journey. He talked about the importance of having a strong support group and expressed how thankful he was for the people who surround him:
“One thing I’ve always prided myself on is having the right people in my life. When I came out publicly as the first active gay basketball player in 2013, I told a lot of the people closest to me before I did so. I wasn’t worried it would leak before the story came out, because I trusted the people I told. And guess what? Nothing leaked,” Collins continued.
“I got to tell my own story, the way I wanted to. And now I can honestly say, the past 12 years since have been the best of my life. Your life is so much better when you just show up as your true self, unafraid to be your true self, in public or private. This is me. This is what I’m dealing with.”
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Collins confirmed that he’s going to continue undergoing treatment to prevent the tumor from spreading. And if this is the end of the line for him, he expects to use his platform to spread awareness, and he’s hopeful that his treatment, which is still relatively new, will ultimately help other people:
“Because my tumor is unresectable, going solely with the “standard of care” — radiation and TMZ — the average prognosis is only 11 to 14 months. If that’s all the time I have left, I’d rather spend it trying a course of treatment that might one day be a new standard of care for everyone,” Collins added.
Jason Collins is a true pioneer and a warrior. It takes a great deal of strength to accomplish what he has done. Hopefully, he will have much more time to continue opening doors for others.
