Jason Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player and a long‑time global ambassador for the game, has died of brain cancer at age 47, his family said Tuesday. The family said he died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family after the cancer returned.
Collins disclosed in November that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, according to ESPN. The report says he traveled to Singapore this past winter to receive experimental treatments not yet authorized in the United States; those treatments were effective enough for him to return home, attend NBA All‑Star Weekend events in Los Angeles and attend a game at his alma mater, Stanford, before the cancer returned.
In a statement released through the NBA, his family said, “We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma. Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
Collins retired in 2014 after a 13‑year NBA career that included stops with the New Jersey Nets, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington and a return to the Nets after they moved to Brooklyn, the report says. He announced he was gay in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story, becoming the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four main North American sports leagues. Collins told ESPN in November, “When I chose to come out, there was no scandal or anything. This was like, I feel that I am good enough to play in the NBA and by the way, I’m gay. Just so everyone knows cards on the table, this is where I am.”
The report notes that Collins played 22 games for the Nets that season alongside teammates Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson, and that Jason Kidd coached that team after having been Collins’ teammate on the New Jersey Nets team that made the NBA Finals in 2002-03. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in a statement, praised Collins’ impact on inclusion, and the National Basketball Players Association said it was “proud to call Jason one of our own,” calling him a “global beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community.” At Stanford, Collins made nearly 61 percent of his shots in his career, a school record, and he was an AP honorable mention All‑America in 2001 before being selected with the 18th pick of that year’s NBA draft.
