Jason Collins, a longtime NBA center who became the first openly gay man to play in any of America’s four leading professional sports leagues, died Tuesday following months of treatment for glioblastoma. He was 47.
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The NBA announced Collins’s death in a statement issued on behalf of his family.
“Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar,” the statement said. “We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
In 2013, Collins made history through an essay in Sports Illustrated. He had been mulling whether to go public since 2011, he said.
“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” he wrote.
His decision was widely praised inside and outside the NBA. Then-President Barack Obama called him to express his support, and Steve Nash, a two-time NBA MVP, posted his “maximum respect.”
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