Every NBA locker room has its own Jason Collins.
They are the big men who sit at the end of the bench for decade-plus careers, offsetting what they lack in athleticism and offensive skill with smarts and selflessness.
They stick around because they set good screens, provide defensive solidity (and six extra fouls) against better big men and make sure to cause no trouble – and hence stay as anonymous as any 7-foot-tall human can ever be.
That all changed Monday, when Collins came out in an eloquent first-person essay published by Sports Illustrated, making him the first active, openly gay male athlete in any of the major American professional sports leagues.
It’s a massive milestone, the reason why a player who averaged 1.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game last season can make the cover of one of the world’s most renowned magazines. At the same time, the announcement seems poised to quickly become a non-issue – maybe the most positive development of all.
While no male athletes have come out and continued playing, plenty of women have. Brittney Griner, the former Baylor center who ranks as perhaps the best women’s college basketball player of all time, came out by casually mentioning her sexuality in an interview about the WNBA draft.
That Griner’s coming out was no big deal is, in fact, a huge deal, and it raises hope that in a few years, the top pick in the NFL draft could do the same thing with just as little fanfare.
What happens with Collins will tell us just how close that day is. Though he’s 34 years old and hardly a star, Collins has been in heavy demand, playing for six NBA teams over a 14-season career, including the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season. Collins may be a fringe player at the end of his career, but he’s going to catch on with some team – maybe for a few more seasons or maybe just for garbage time in summer league games.
Either way, there will be a new beginning the next time Collins takes the court. The last taboo in the major American sports leagues will be broken, and the door will be opened a little bit wider for everyone else. One man’s courage can beget the same. Collins has made it easier for the next man, whether it is another NBA role player or an NFL superstar or a suffering high school kid, to tell the truth about his sexuality.
Collins’ honesty is impressive enough on its own. His willingness to cast aside his privacy, subject himself to scrutiny and serve as the role model so many have been waiting for is why he’ll go down in history.
Collins won’t get the amount of airtime or words devoted to Jackie Robinson – he’s just not good enough at basketball for that – but barrier breakers don’t have to be Hall of Famers. They just have to make it easier for others to cross the same line, eventually making the line fade from prominence.
Yes, there’s a Jason Collins in every NBA locker room. But chances are that this is true in another context – there are also gay men on almost every NBA bench. The same goes for NFL sidelines and MLB dugouts. They’ve just been hiding, hopefully not for much longer.
