Jason Collins, the first openly gay active player in North American professional sports and a figurehead for LGBTQ+ inclusion in athletics, has died at the age of 47. The news was confirmed by his family on Tuesday. No cause of death has been disclosed.
Collins, who played 13 seasons in the NBA for eight teams including the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics, came out as gay in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story. His announcement, which preceded his final season in the league, was hailed as a watershed moment for sport. At the time, he was the only active male athlete in any of America’s four major professional leagues to be publicly gay.
British sporting figures were among those to pay tribute. The British Basketball Federation described Collins as “a pioneer whose courage extended far beyond the court.” Stonewall, the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charity, said his legacy “helped make sport a safer and more welcoming place for countless young people.”
Collins was known less for his statistical output, which averaged 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, than for his durability and defensive presence. He played in the NBA Finals with the New Jersey Nets in 2002 and 2003, and later became a sought-after locker-room presence. His No. 98 jersey, chosen in reference to a 1998 anti-gay hate crime, remains a symbolic garment in LGBTQ+ sports history.
After retiring, Collins became a prominent advocate for equality, speaking at White House events and working with organisations such as the Human Rights Campaign. In 2014, he was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs.
His death has prompted reflection on the progress of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. While the NBA has seen other players come out since Collins, no active male player in the NFL, MLB or NHL has done so. The starkness of that fact underscores the continuing barriers to authenticity in professional athletics.
Collins’s own transition from anonymous role player to cultural touchstone was deliberate. He understood the weight of his position. In his 2013 essay, he wrote: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” The quiet precision of that revelation mirrored his approach to advocacy: understated, unyielding, and ultimately transformative.
British sport, which has its own struggles with homophobia and inclusivity, has reason to recognise his contribution. The Premier League has yet to see an openly gay male player in its top flight. Rugby union and cricket have made incremental strides, but the absence of role models at the highest level remains a concern. Collins’s example demonstrated that visibility, even in a hyper-masculine environment, could be met with acceptance rather than reproach.
As tributes continue to arrive from across the sporting world, his legacy is perhaps best measured not in accolades but in the permission he gave others to live openly. For a sport often resistant to change, that is an exceptional mark.
