NBA Center Jason Collins Comes Out

[TetRefine]

Interesting that the first active pro athlete in America to openly come out as gay is black and plays in the NBA (arguably the most homophobic of the Big Four). 

 

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/29/veteran-nba-center-jason-collins-im-gay/related/

[Trebs]

I just wish he was currently on a team and not a free agent, but the first is the first and hopefully this will spur others to come out as well. 

[MJ85]

I just wish he was currently on a team and not a free agent, but the first is the first and hopefully this will spur others to come out as well.

Is it though...? Suppose that for whatever reason, good or bad, he never ends up playing again after this.

[Krista]

He's coming out in the most dangerous time for an athlete - during their free agency - I thought that made him more courageous. He doesn't currently have a contract protecting his status within the league. Now he's coming out as Gay and putting a possible stall or possible bargaining leverage against him.  So it's not bad that he came out and may be forced into retirement, it's bad that IF teams were interested in purchasing his free agency and offering a contract are now backing out.

 

I wish him good luck.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Krista

[Percy]

The Sports Illustrated article is very well written.  Not sure how much was Collins and how much was Lidz but it makes for good reading.  There's a link to it in the article Tetrefine posted.

[BlueSoxSWJ]

Two important qualifiers:  He's the first male athlete in a team sport in North America to come out while still active.  The women have been breaking down the closet door since 1981.

 

Also, Dustin Penner had my favorite reaction of the day:

 

[hh5]

Isn't being a great at center position guarantee he would not be discriminated?

it would be a team loss if he wound up on a lower ability team, wouldn't?

perhaps it be another piece of news about sports n news industries - discriminating vs eoe

if only 60 min or similar runs a campaign about this

well so far Anderson cooper is still working with three jobs 

[TetRefine]

Two important qualifiers:  He's the first male athlete in a team sport in North America to come out while still active.  The women have been breaking down the closet door since 1981.

 

 

Well he's the first one to actually matter. People don't care about women's sports, nor do they care about non-team sports. The only sports that matter are mens football, hockey, baseball, and basketball. So while he may not technically be the first out pro-athlete, he's the first one to come out that people actually care about as a whole.

[Y_B]

I'd love to learn about his background and childhood

[MJ85]

Two important qualifiers: He's the first male athlete in a team sport in North America to come out while still active.

Except that as a guy headed towards becoming a free agent, he won't be that far from inactive. That's why I have reservations about everyone's proclaiming the distinction, because what happens if he comes out and then for whatever reason, has to go inactive? Then...the only difference between, say, his coming-out and John Amaechi's, would be timing.

 

That's also why I wish it was someone who was in more of an undisputably "active" position. If he ends up getting signed (or re-signed) after this, then...hey, great! But until then...I'll take a step back from the point of total enthusiasm.

Edited April 30, 2013 by MJ85

[Krista]

I don't know why we want our Athletes and Celebrities to come out while still being 'actively' pursuing their careers. We wouldn't ask that of normal people - or shouldn't. We'd want people to come out WHEN THEY ARE READY. The only people to know that is the person pondering their lives and their coming out.

 

He came out as a free agent, he's still actively pursuing his career. If his numbers/contributions are good enough to make a team, they are good enough to make a team. If they aren't, so be it. But he put himself out there when he didn't have to. So be enthusiastic about that instead of brushing off his bravery with what you think is good or bad 'timing.'

[MJ85]

I don't know why we want our Athletes and Celebrities to come out while still being 'actively' pursuing their careers. We wouldn't ask that of normal people - or shouldn't. We'd want people to come out WHEN THEY ARE READY. The only people to know that is the person pondering their lives and their coming out.

 

He came out as a free agent, he's still actively pursuing his career. If his numbers/contributions are good enough to make a team, they are good enough to make a team. If they aren't, so be it. But he put himself out there when he didn't have to. So be enthusiastic about that instead of brushing off his bravery with what you think is good or bad 'timing.'

 

He's not the one I'm "brushing off", as you put it. Everyone else's proclamation that he's the first U.S. male athlete to come out while still actively in a team sport - yes, that I am "brushing off".

[Zombie]

I don't know why we want our Athletes and Celebrities to come out while still being 'actively' pursuing their careers. We wouldn't ask that of normal people - or shouldn't. We'd want people to come out WHEN THEY ARE READY. The only people to know that is the person pondering their lives and their coming out.

 

He came out as a free agent, he's still actively pursuing his career. If his numbers/contributions are good enough to make a team, they are good enough to make a team. If they aren't, so be it. But he put himself out there when he didn't have to. So be enthusiastic about that instead of brushing off his bravery with what you think is good or bad 'timing.'

 

Top sportsmen are role models so coming out while still in the game has more impact and he's courageous for doing that. And of course we should want top sportsmen to be able to come out so they can live their lives honestly during their careers - why wouldn't we?  Of course, if he's not picked up by a team then the clubs will be shown up as homophobic.

Similar thing happened in Britain in football - where it ended badly - and in rugby, where it ended well. In football a lot of the problem is with fans, in rugby the fans couldn't care less as long as the guy delivers

[W_L]

I wonder if Futbol fans in the US would be more amenable to gay athletes, rather than football fans in the US (Using different spellings to keep them separate, why couldn't American Football have been named Rugball as it's rugby with different rules )

[C J]

How can it be rugby if it doesn't use the same rules?

[Zombie]

I think W_L meant American Football is derived from rugby football.

Just as baseball is derived from rounders