Surfcrest
February 25th, 2014, 03:01
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y69/Surfcrest/Jason-Collins.jpg
Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete in North America's four major professional sports Sunday, signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
Collins checked in with 10:28 to go in the second quarter and received a round of applause from the Staples Center crowd.
"Sometimes in life something happens and there's an opportunity," he said shortly before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night. "I'm very thankful for this opportunity. That's why I work so hard, why I train the way I do so that when I do have an opportunity physically I'm not worried about my conditioning or cardio or anything along those lines."
"The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision," Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. "We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract."
The Nets tweeted out a picture of Collins signing his contract.
Collins will wear No. 98 for the Nets, but was unable to wear it Sunday because it was not available in time for the game against the Lakers, so he wore No. 46 instead.
Collins' choice of the No. 98 is in honor of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who died in a notorious anti-gay hate crime in 1998. Collins has worn the jersey number with both the Celtics and Wizards.
The Nets moved quickly to make the historic signing of the 35-year-old free agent center to have another big body available against the Lakers. Brooklyn had been contemplating signing Collins for the past week and the need for Collins became greater after the Nets dealt rebounding specialist Reggie Evans to the Sacramento Kings last week.
"Jason told us that his goal was to earn another contract with an NBA team. Today, I want to commend him on achieving his goal. I know everyone in the NBA family is excited for him and proud that our league fosters an inclusive and respectful environment," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
ESPN.com reported that the Nets quietly auditioned Collins last week in Los Angeles, paving the way from him to rejoin the franchise with which he spent his first six-plus seasons in the league.
The Nets were in the running to land Glen Davis but Davis opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and informed teams of his decision. Davis is set to officially become an unrestricted free agent Sunday at 5 p.m. ET if, as expected, he is not claimed off waivers by another team.
Collins hasn't played in an NBA game since April 2013 with the Washington Wizards. Collins, who has a house in the Los Angeles area, said it was "pretty easy" to get to downtown for the game. He's been working out on his own for months in the L.A. area after failing to earn an invite to training camp from any of the league's 30 teams in the wake of revealing his sexual orientation to Sports Illustrated in April of last year.
"Life is so much better for me. I don't have to hide who I am. Just be my normal self," Collins said. "The past 10 months have been incredible. A lot of really cool experiences, learning a lot, making new friends and hearing peoples' stories. Overall, it's been really positive."
The Nets are an organization filled with Collins supporters and experienced players less likely to be fazed by the likely media blitz that the signing will inevitably spark. Over the last couple of days, several Nets players have publicly voiced their support for signing Collins.
"Guys know what to expect from me," Collins said. "They're not like 'he's magically gonna have a 40-inch vertical and shoot 3s.' My game has been pretty consistent. I'm a defensive player first, and that's what I pride myself on. Now it's just a matter of getting comfortable with coverages and assignments."
Collins is reunited with Nets coach Jason Kidd, who played with the defensive-minded big man in New Jersey from 2001-08, making two trips together to the NBA Finals. Collins also played with Nets guard Joe Johnson for three seasons in Atlanta and spent half of the 2012-13 season in Boston alongside Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett before being traded to the Wizards. Collins also is friends with injured Nets center Brook Lopez, who like Collins played alongside his twin brother at Stanford.
"Great competitor, plays team basketball, is for the team, great guy, great character," Garnett told reporters on Saturday morning about Collins.
Garnett also scoffed at the notion that Collins' orientation with the Nets would be any sort of issue with the team.
"I think it's important that anybody who has the capabilities and skill level [gets] a chance to [do] something he's great at," Garnett said. "I think it would be bias, and in a sense, racist, if you [were] to keep that opportunity from a person."
The Nets' signing of Collins comes not long after University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam announced he is gay earlier this month in an ESPN "Outside The Lines" interview. Sam, though, can't make his official NFL debut until the fall. Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a U.S. professional sports league when he made his Major League Soccer debut in May 2013, just three months after coming out. And John Amaechi, who spent five seasons in the NBA with Orlando, Utah and Cleveland, disclosed his sexuality three years after his playing career ended in a 2007 book entitled "Man In The Middle."
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/10506550/jason-collins-sign-brooklyn-nets
[youtube:3rgca5rn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIARyz9s-Lw[/youtube:3rgca5rn]
Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete in North America's four major professional sports Sunday, signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.
Collins checked in with 10:28 to go in the second quarter and received a round of applause from the Staples Center crowd.
"Sometimes in life something happens and there's an opportunity," he said shortly before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night. "I'm very thankful for this opportunity. That's why I work so hard, why I train the way I do so that when I do have an opportunity physically I'm not worried about my conditioning or cardio or anything along those lines."
"The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision," Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. "We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract."
The Nets tweeted out a picture of Collins signing his contract.
Collins will wear No. 98 for the Nets, but was unable to wear it Sunday because it was not available in time for the game against the Lakers, so he wore No. 46 instead.
Collins' choice of the No. 98 is in honor of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who died in a notorious anti-gay hate crime in 1998. Collins has worn the jersey number with both the Celtics and Wizards.
The Nets moved quickly to make the historic signing of the 35-year-old free agent center to have another big body available against the Lakers. Brooklyn had been contemplating signing Collins for the past week and the need for Collins became greater after the Nets dealt rebounding specialist Reggie Evans to the Sacramento Kings last week.
"Jason told us that his goal was to earn another contract with an NBA team. Today, I want to commend him on achieving his goal. I know everyone in the NBA family is excited for him and proud that our league fosters an inclusive and respectful environment," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
ESPN.com reported that the Nets quietly auditioned Collins last week in Los Angeles, paving the way from him to rejoin the franchise with which he spent his first six-plus seasons in the league.
The Nets were in the running to land Glen Davis but Davis opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers and informed teams of his decision. Davis is set to officially become an unrestricted free agent Sunday at 5 p.m. ET if, as expected, he is not claimed off waivers by another team.
Collins hasn't played in an NBA game since April 2013 with the Washington Wizards. Collins, who has a house in the Los Angeles area, said it was "pretty easy" to get to downtown for the game. He's been working out on his own for months in the L.A. area after failing to earn an invite to training camp from any of the league's 30 teams in the wake of revealing his sexual orientation to Sports Illustrated in April of last year.
"Life is so much better for me. I don't have to hide who I am. Just be my normal self," Collins said. "The past 10 months have been incredible. A lot of really cool experiences, learning a lot, making new friends and hearing peoples' stories. Overall, it's been really positive."
The Nets are an organization filled with Collins supporters and experienced players less likely to be fazed by the likely media blitz that the signing will inevitably spark. Over the last couple of days, several Nets players have publicly voiced their support for signing Collins.
"Guys know what to expect from me," Collins said. "They're not like 'he's magically gonna have a 40-inch vertical and shoot 3s.' My game has been pretty consistent. I'm a defensive player first, and that's what I pride myself on. Now it's just a matter of getting comfortable with coverages and assignments."
Collins is reunited with Nets coach Jason Kidd, who played with the defensive-minded big man in New Jersey from 2001-08, making two trips together to the NBA Finals. Collins also played with Nets guard Joe Johnson for three seasons in Atlanta and spent half of the 2012-13 season in Boston alongside Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett before being traded to the Wizards. Collins also is friends with injured Nets center Brook Lopez, who like Collins played alongside his twin brother at Stanford.
"Great competitor, plays team basketball, is for the team, great guy, great character," Garnett told reporters on Saturday morning about Collins.
Garnett also scoffed at the notion that Collins' orientation with the Nets would be any sort of issue with the team.
"I think it's important that anybody who has the capabilities and skill level [gets] a chance to [do] something he's great at," Garnett said. "I think it would be bias, and in a sense, racist, if you [were] to keep that opportunity from a person."
The Nets' signing of Collins comes not long after University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam announced he is gay earlier this month in an ESPN "Outside The Lines" interview. Sam, though, can't make his official NFL debut until the fall. Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a U.S. professional sports league when he made his Major League Soccer debut in May 2013, just three months after coming out. And John Amaechi, who spent five seasons in the NBA with Orlando, Utah and Cleveland, disclosed his sexuality three years after his playing career ended in a 2007 book entitled "Man In The Middle."
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/10506550/jason-collins-sign-brooklyn-nets
[youtube:3rgca5rn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIARyz9s-Lw[/youtube:3rgca5rn]