Current NBA Player comes out as openly gay

[Kak7304]

NBA player Jason Collins says he is gay - The Magazine - SI.com

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

Good for him! Going to be some good signs at the game this year!

 

[koonja]

Congrats to him. Paul Pierce, your move.

 

[irishpat183]

Congrats to him. Paul Pierce, your move.

Reps


Good for this guy. Not sure why this matters, but if it makes him feel good...kuddos.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Good for him, seriously.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

Good for him. An act of courage. Hope this makes him more comfortable and at peace with his life.

 

[ACamp1900]

My first few thoughts were all over the place really...

at first i was more like "Who really cares?"... then I thought about it and was like, "WOW, a basktball player is the first? Didn't see that one coming."

Now, I'm thinking this could open a bit of a flood gate... I'm sure there are some in other sports that are seeing this thinking' "I can't let him stand alone..."

 

[Kak7304]

Good for him. An act of courage. Hope this makes him more comfortable and at peace with his life.

And for the others still in the closet. I think we'll start to see a domino effect as many more come out. Everyone has been waiting on someone to step up and be first.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

And for the others still in the closet. I think we'll start to see a domino effect as many more come out. Everyone has been waiting on someone to step up and be first.

I hope so. Both to further equality and so that he does not bear the inevitable criticism from some on his own.

 

[koonja]

I wonder if he just got a contact extension or something? Maybe he was waiting for that, or maybe he's at the end of his career? That's a really big 'secret' to keep for so long.

 

[ACamp1900]

I wonder if he just got a contact extension or something? Maybe he was waiting for that, or maybe he's at the end of his career? That's a really big 'secret' to keep for so long.

Didn't he state that his twin brother didn't know until just recently??...

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

And for the others still in the closet. I think we'll start to see a domino effect as many more come out. Everyone has been waiting on someone to step up and be first.

I think you will be right if he plays one more year. To come out and then retire would do no good.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

I wonder if he just got a contact extension or something? Maybe he was waiting for that, or maybe he's at the end of his career? That's a really big 'secret' to keep for so long.

I think you will be right if he plays one more year. To come out and then retire would do no good.

From what I gather from the article he is a free agent, but does not want to retire. Did not want to come out while on team during season, because did not want to be a distraction and hurt his team.

 

[phillyirish]

I think you will be right if he plays one more year. To come out and then retire would do no good.

Except he is 34 years old and played in 6 games last year, averaging .7 points. He is now a free agent. Its unlikely he will be signed based on age and talent, yet the media will go crazy and blame it on the fact that he is gay

 

[Irishnuke]

He's a free agent. So basically, if a team doesn't sign him, they'll be blasted for being homophobic bigots.

 

[sparkyND]

Good for him! Even better, I don't think the backlash will be as big as I first thought. It seems the NBA community is quite receptive at this point.

Ex-teammates, fans react to NBA player Jason Collins announcing he's gay - U.S. News

 

[greyhammer90]

He's a free agent. So basically, if a team doesn't sign him, they'll be blasted for being homophobic bigots.

No they won't. It's actually perfect for the NBA. Whatever team takes him gets good press for it, and the teams that don't take him won't get bad press. Also, if he doesn't get picked up by anyone then everyone would take the heat together. (There wouldn't be much because saying that EVERYONE in the NBA is homophobic is patently absurd and no one would latch onto it.)

It's much better than him being at the end of his career and already being signed with a team. Then the team would be in a tough spot if they wanted to cut him before next season. So I think he did this in a wonderful way that doesn't open up to much negative drama.

Happy for the guy.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Except he is 34 years old and played in 6 games last year, averaging .7 points. He is now a free agent. Its unlikely he will be signed based on age and talent, yet the media will go crazy and blame it on the fact that he is gay

Played 38 games last year. Was traded after playing 32 for the Celtics.

 

[phillyirish]

Played 38 games last year. Was traded after playing 32 for the Celtics.

Oh ok, my bad good call

 

[Ben E.]

Pub stunt to try and squeeze one more year out of his career. Yawn.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

Pub stunt to try and squeeze one more year out of his career. Yawn.

Yeah, Im sure he is making a major life decision and announcing something that he's held back for many years, is personal, and opens him up to negative backlash to get one more year out of a journey man career.

Yawn indeed.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

Pub stunt to try and squeeze one more year out of his career. Yawn.

You aren't being serious, are you?

 

[Domina Nostra]

The man can do what he wants to do, but do people really think this was courageous? Has anyone watched television for the past 5 years? All sports media outlets unanimously supported Collins, as everyone with ears and eyes would have expected. He was commended by the White House for goodness sake! He's not a highschool basketball coach in rural Kentucky-- he went to Stanford and played pro-ball in major NE markets. He is rich and can live where he wants without worrying about repercussions. What did people think was going to happen?

I think all of these faux glass-ceiling-breaking events are becoming extremely forced. The first _________ to do ___________. This reminds me of once watching someone admit to masturbating on some afternoon talk show, in the name of being "honest." The man acted like he was surprised that the entire audience was on his side even though that subject had been discussed approvingly on that show about a million times.

Would this have been courageous in 1995? Yes. In 2013? Please.

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Pub stunt to try and squeeze one more year out of his career. Yawn.

 

[Irishnuke]

The man can do what he wants to do, but do people really think this was courageous? Has anyone watched television for the past 3 years? All media outlets unanimously supported him. Collins got commended by the White House for making the move today, for goodness sake! He's not a highschool basketball caoch in rural Kentucky-- he is rich, he can live where he wants without worrying about repercussions. What did people think was going to happen?

I think all of these faux-events are becoming extremely forced. This reminds me of once watching someone admit to masturbating on some afternoon talk show, in the name of being "honest." The man acted like he was surprised with the entire audience was on his side. This isn't 1890!

No, not at all. There has been such a push from the media for someone to come out that whoever did it first would be made a hero and would be celebrated. Where's the risk? Like you said he's got plenty of money unless he pissed it away. He doesn't have to worry about losing a job. If he would have come out years ago others may have deemed him "courageous" but doing it under these circumstances doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

No, not at all. There has been such a push from the media for someone to come out that whoever did it first would be made a hero and would be celebrated. Where's the risk? Like you said he's got plenty of money unless he pissed it away. He doesn't have to worry about losing a job. If he would have come out years ago others may have deemed him "courageous" but doing it under these circumstances doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

Must be why so many people have come out thus far.

 

[irishpat183]

The man can do what he wants to do, but do people really think this was courageous? Has anyone watched television for the past 5 years? All sports media outlets unanimously supported Collins, as everyone with ears and eyes would have expected. He was commended by the White House for goodness sake! He's not a highschool basketball coach in rural Kentucky-- he went to Stanford and played pro-ball in major NE markets. He is rich and can live where he wants without worrying about repercussions. What did people think was going to happen?

I think all of these faux glass-ceiling-breaking events are becoming extremely forced. The first _________ to do ___________. This reminds me of once watching someone admit to masturbating on some afternoon talk show, in the name of being "honest." The man acted like he was surprised that the entire audience was on his side even though that subject had been discussed approvingly on that show about a million times.

Would this have been courageous in 1995? Yes. In 2013? Please.

Great post.

 

[irishpat183]

No, not at all. There has been such a push from the media for someone to come out that whoever did it first would be made a hero and would be celebrated. Where's the risk? Like you said he's got plenty of money unless he pissed it away. He doesn't have to worry about losing a job. If he would have come out years ago others may have deemed him "courageous" but doing it under these circumstances doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

And to that point....the kid in high school that comes out is far more "courageous" than this guy.

 

[Irishnuke]

Must be why so many people have come out thus far.

I said he's not at risk of losing his job. He's 34, has been in the league a while and has made a good amount of money and is way past his prime. If he doesn't get signed, oh well. What is he risking that makes this so courageous? It's not like he's a rookie or a young guy in the prime of his career.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I said he's not at risk of losing his job. He's 34, has been in the league a while and has made a good amount of money and is way past his prime. If he doesn't get signed, oh well. What is he risking that makes this so courageous? It's not like he's a rookie or a young guy in the prime of his career.

I get what you're saying. But it's still probably a pretty lonely place to be.