He isn’t though.
Look up thread.
??? Isn’t gay, isn’t first, or isn’t pro? Sorry, I re-read the thread and still don’t see what it is that you’re pointing out here. Is there an openly gay soccer player in one of the big European soccer leagues that I haven’t heard about? If so, just add “American” if front of PRO in my post.
Add male as a qualifier too.
He just finished a contract year in which he played in 38 out of 81 games, averaged 10 minutes and 1.1 points. I think that technically he is considered “active” because he still wants to keep playing, but he is not actually on any team at the moment and demand for him would be very very low.
Well his current contract doesn’t expire until July, so, for now at least, he’s definitely pro. He’s either gay or the biggest fraud since Madoff and he’s also first (male - as rightfully noted by Loach). So he isn’t…?
I have a big problem calling a guy who might never see another game or deal with any of the actual issues and problems of being the “first active openly gay athlete in one of the big 4 sports”. If he is actually with a team next year then i will gladly give him all the props he deserves, but right now he might as well be retired for the difference it makes.
When the thread title has “active” in caps, yeah we are going to bicker. Collins isn’t on an NBA roster at the moment and there is a better than 50/50 shot that he’s played his last game. There’s not a good argument to consider him an active player until he signs on with someone for next year.
They can if they are seven foot centers. I recall reading a stat that 17% of American males 7+ feet tall have played in the NBA. If you are that tall, have a pulse, and a bit of agility, you can probably have a decent career in the NBA.
Besides, it not that he had a bad career relatively speaking; it’s that he is a terrible player at the moment. He is the 24th eldest player in the NBA, and was the second worst player (with 150 min played) in the NBA by PER. He is a scrub by basically every measure.
I think it depends on whether he plays next year. If not, he is just another John Amaechi (which is by no means a bad thing to be). Either way, hats off to him. I know it must feel good to be open about it. I do think the real test will be what happens when a star player comes out.
This doesn’t make any sense. By conventional understanding he is active now (has not retired). His next contract and playing experience, if any, will surely be influenced by what he did today.
Even if he never plays again, his example and the reaction to it have already changed the context for any other gay male professional team player, and that player’s team.
This is important. Whatever props he deserves for the decision he has made, they cannot be dependent on something that may or may not happen several months from now.
Not to be too cynical, but doesn’t it seem a bit odd that he has come out at basically the very tail end of his NBA career? I don’t see this as too different from what a handful of other people have done in that regard since this guy is basically retired.
I don’t think it’s a bad thing that he came out, but it’s far less risky to come out when the upside is far more positive than negative.
Collins will absolutely play next year. Somebody will sign him (probably Washington) even though he has pretty much been a stiff his entire career, albeit a hardworking and well prepared one. Oh, how Shaq abused him the year the Nets played the Lakers in the Finals. Keith Closs probably even felt sorry for him.
The fallout has been so positive so far, straight players just might out themselves. 
Guarantee he receives a standing ovation the first time he steps on the court next season.
And good for him.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. He is again, the second worst player in the NBA by PER. Yes, the NBA loves tall guys, but not as much as they used to.
And he will deserve that standing ovation. I hope he gets it, but I would put the odds of him being signed to a year contract around 35%.
I don’t think it’s his offensive ability (or lack thereof) that will doom his chances – although you certainly have a point. He’s a good veteran guy to have at the end of the bench and a good publicity/marketing opportunity for a non-contender.
Would really be a great moment lost if somebody didn’t pick him up.
Y’know, Dennis Rodman sort of came out during his playing days.
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight crunched a few numbers regarding Collins’ chances of future NBA employment. He looked at 18 players as far back as the early 1990s who were of similar age, position and playing time. He found that 11 played in the NBA the next season. But, obviously, none of them had just come out.
Not at all - as I said, good on Jason for doing this, whatever the reasons. However, it’s not quite as brave an act as it would be if it were not a journeyman at the end of his career. If this were a starter at the beginning of his career, the potential risk would be much greater, both financially and psychologically.
But perhaps it’s good that it’s happening in little steps - if the next guy that declares is a starter with 2 years left, and then the next that declares is a star in his final year, and so on, the pressure is kind of spread out, and pretty soon coming out will be greeted with a resounding “meh, who cares, just play”.
And hopefully high school locker rooms will soon need a new insult to be hurled about within their walls.
“You play like a faggot.”
“You mean like Lebron?”
“Dammit.”
I keep hearing that. What do people think it would be especially tough to be openly homosexual in MLB?
I don’t get it either. But the only thing I can think of is the “good old boy” mentality of some MLB players. And possibly the Latin American (and thus, conservative Catholic) influence on a lot of teams.
But I still don’t understand how that makes MLB more “macho” than basketball or football.
I think it’s for the same reason the toughest sport to be an openly gay athlete would be NASCAR, target audience.
Of course, now we could argue about the definition of “sport”. Go fast, turn left, you know.
I find NASCAR boring as all hell, but any spectator activity where people actually die from time to time gets enough machismo points from me to call itself a sport if it wants!