One of the most recognized retired NBA players, Jason Collins, is an American professional retired Basketball Player. He fame arose after coming out as a Gay. Jason Collins has played in 13 seasons in the NBA being associated with the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and lastly for Brooklyn Nets. He was among the first class inductees to be inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame on August 2, 2013, after he publicly came out as a gay.
Born on December 2, 1978 at Northridge, California, USA, Jason has a twin brother named Jarron who was born 8 minutes later than him. His twin brother Jarron is also an NBA player who plays for the Utah Jazz. Both the brothers had attended Harvard-Westlake School based in Los Angeles. In their early days, Jason and Jarron had won two California Interscholastic Federation state titles. They were in a team for Standford Cardinal in the Pacific-10 Conference. During the college career, Jason was ranked first for field goal percentage and third in blocked shots.
Jason started his professional career as a rookie along with Richard Jefferson from New Jersey’s Net. He played a significant role in the team’s first ever NBA Final berth in 2002 against Los Angeles Lakers. He played for New Jersey’s Net for 6 years and later moved to Memphis Grizzlies. Spending a brief time at the club, he moved to Minnesota Timberwolves where he played a season and joined at Atlanta Hawks. His defensive play was appreciated by his coach and called it “the best defense on Howard all year”. After spending three years with Hawks, he joined Washington Wizards in 2013. He played in 6 games with the Wizards and on April 29, 2013, he publicly came out as gay which made him the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to publicly coming out as a gay. The news grabbed the attention of many people round the globe which helped his grab the recognition. In July, he became a free agent and trained himself at his home whilst waiting for the opportunity. In 2014, he joined at The Brooklyn Nets. During the time, he sold his autographed game-worn jerseys to benefit the LGBT supporting charities, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). On November 19, 2014, he announced his retirement from the game.
Jason is also known from his nick name of Set Shot Willy or Twin. Both the brothers stand the tallest height of 7 feet which has been their trademark as well. He has 2621 points record, 2706 rebounds and 359 blocks record under his name as his career statistics. Jason is known much for his defense than scoring in the game. He has the net worth of $16 million Dollars and enjoyed a good salary pay from his club.
Moving onto his personal life, he has already declared himself as a gay. However, there is no information whom he is dating at present. After coming out as a gay, he had stated that he was feeling incredible for accepting what he is against forcing himself to be what he was not. Prior to coming out as a gay, he was in relationship with girlfriend Carolyn Moss for eight years.
Jason is one of the unforgettable names in the NBA history. He has set his legacy. He has been the icon of the LGBT community and been the inspiration to all the gays and lesbians who are hiding their status in the fear of their status and respect. Information on him can be found going through several sites like wikipedia, IMDb,etc that has stored his biography, news, pictures, quotes, articles and videos on him. He can also be followed in his Twitter account which can be the best source to get updated with his recent activities and learn more on him.
