Jason Collins, pioneering openly gay NBA player, dies at 47

Jason Collins, the longtime NBA center who became the first openly gay male athlete to play in one of America’s four major professional sports leagues, died Tuesday at 47 after fighting glioblastoma for eight months. The NBA said Collins died with his family at his side, and his family said he had been an inspiration to people who knew him and to many he never met.

His public coming-out in 2013 became a hinge moment for men’s sports. In a Sports Illustrated essay, Collins wrote, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” He had been wrestling with whether to speak publicly since 2011, but once he did, the response from the league and from around sports was immediate. President Barack Obama called to offer support, Steve Nash posted “maximum respect,” and the Washington Wizards and NBA said, “We are extremely proud of Jason and support his decision to live his life proudly and openly.”

Collins later told AP he had received “incredible” support and hoped he had made the path easier for others. That hope became part of his legacy as the NBA leaned into a more open posture, not only through public statements but also through Collins’s own role after retirement as a league ambassador. The NBA said his influence reached far beyond basketball, helping make the NBA, WNBA and the larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.

Before that breakthrough, Collins had built a long basketball career. A Southern California high school star, he and his twin brother, Jarron Collins, played at Stanford, where Jason became a Hall of Famer and still holds the school record for career field-goal percentage at .608. Stanford said he was a trailblazer for equality in sports and an advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion, and noted that he and Jarron were inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame in 2017.

Collins was selected 18th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft and played 13 seasons for eight teams, including the New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets. He retired in 2014 after his final season in Brooklyn, then remained visible in the sport as an ambassador and public symbol of what had changed since 2013 and how much courage that change still required.

In January 2026, the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame named Collins a recipient of the Glenn Burke Award, which honors courage and authenticity in transforming sports. By then, Collins had already moved from pioneer to standard-bearer, a reminder that one player’s decision to speak publicly can alter the culture of an entire league.