NBA follows Collins towards tolerance and acceptance

As a basketball fan-based in Australia, it is always surprising to see an NBA player on the front page of local online news sites and the subject of the nightly news.

Even more so when that player is Jason Collins.

In what is a watershed moment, Collins became the first current, openly gay, professional male athlete to play any of the four major sports in the United States.

Collins penned his own article for Sports Illustrated beginning with the statement, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

Collins has quickly been compared to Jackie Robinson, the African-American baseballer who famously played for the LA Dodgers in 1947, ending six decades of racial segregation and making a significant contribution to the civil rights movement. Jason Collins’ name now transcends the sport.

Yet beneath the surface, the Jason Collins story tells us more about the culture and domain of professional male sports than it does about Collins himself. Indeed, the male ‘locker room’ is among the last institutions in society to accept a person’s sexuality as equal.

A comparison between Collins’ and Baylor University star Brittney Griner highlights this.

Collins is in the twilight of his career and has spent the most part of the last five years on the bench. In Collins’ own words (and no one would disagree) – he is a ‘pro’s pro’, known for his fearlessness, leadership and commitment to his teammates.

At age 34 and following his twelfth year in the league, Collins has a career average of 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.

Griner on the other hand is a rising star. Having just finished her standout career at Baylor, she was chosen number one overall in the WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury.

Significantly, in a sport where athleticism is the key commodity and ‘dunking’ is a term understood by those outside basketball circles, Griner is among the first female basketballer to consistently dunk the ball.

Prior to the start of her promising professional career, Griner has signed an endorsement deal with Nike – the same company that markets global sporting icons such as Jordan, Federer and Woods. In short, if you are a young female basketball player in the United States, chances are you known who Griner is.

Collins, on the other hand, is known only to NBA die-hards.

Both are current athletes who are openly gay. Just over a week ago, Griner mentioned in passing during an interview that she was a lesbian. The interview hardly made headlines and Griner’s sexuality, perhaps on the mere basis that she is a female basketballer, was assumed.

So why then is Brittany Griner being gay less of a story than Jason Collins? Why is her sexuality ‘assumed’ while Collins pens his own an expose, draws praise from the President of the United States, and makes headlines around the world?

The simple fact is, like Jackie Robinson, Collins is breaking new ground and helping to dismantle dangerous stereotypes of what it is to be both a professional male athlete and gay.

From the Sports Illustrated article, it is clear that Collins is comfortable with his sexuality (which he notes extends back to his teenage years), however he appears less at ease with the attention that his decision to ‘come out’ will bring.

He writes “If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

You could hardly blame Collins for such sentiment. In 2007, NBA player Tim Hardaway responded to former player John Amaechi’s decision to ‘come out’ by saying “I hate gay people,” and in 2011, superstar Kobe Bryant referred to a referee as a “faggot”.

Elsewhere in American sports and most recently, under the biggest media scrutiny in the week prior to the 2013 Super Bowl, San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver commented: “I don’t do the gay guys, man. I don’t do that. Got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be in the locker room, nah.”

These comments, while isolated, reveal an undercurrent of homophobia that exists in male professional sports. They also make Collins’ stance all the more courageous.

Reading Collins’ story, and as a basketball die-hard, you couldn’t help but feel happy for him and for what his article means for athletes, male or female, professional or non-professional, that continue to hide their true identities behind shrouded social stereotypes that exist within locker rooms.

Setting aside the fact that Collins has played his entire career hiding his sexuality, the fact that the story raises the continuing undercurrent of homophobia in professional sports, and the fact that we are starting this discussion in 2013 – the Jason Collins article is essentially a feel good story. He wasn’t ‘outed’; his decision to come out was on his terms; “genuine, authentic and truthful.”

Yet the greatest element of the story has come in the reaction since.

For Collins, it is one thing to receive support from Hollywood celebrities; such support could be expected from traditionally liberal portions of society.

But the overwhelming support to come from the NBA fraternity has provided an enriching post-script. On Twitter, players from 19-year veteran Jason Kidd to first year rookie Bradley Beal praised Collins courage and echoed others in mentioning his qualities as a teammate.

A roll call of all-stars, far greater identities than Collins in the NBA, all provided their support, including Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Steve Nash, Al Horford, among others.

Even Kobe Bryant, with a history of homophobic slurs, tweeted: “proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who you are because of the ignorance of others.”

On online message boards, NBA fans showed equal support for Collins and reprimanded the occasional ignorant comment. Hall of Famer and commentator Charles Barkley summed up the league’s next to universal acceptance of Collins – “Last night, I didn’t care who Jason Collins sleeps next to, and I won’t tonight either.”

Collins notes that he is glad he is coming out in 2013 rather than 2003 – “the climate has shifted.” Bryant’s tweet indicates as much.

Collins goes onto recite a saying from his former Celtics coach Doc Rivers – “If you want to go farther, go in a group,” and urged that he wanted people to pull together and push ahead.

The reaction by the NBA indicates that Collins will be joined in the fight against homophobia by straight athletes that belong to the same locker room as he. The same locker room that has perpetuated a homophobic undertone in male professional sports for so long.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson paved the way for minorities in American sports. Today, over 36% of the Major League Baseball players are either African American or Hispanic.

In 2013, Jason Collins has paved the way for greater tolerance and acceptance of gay and lesbian athletes. Early indications are that the NBA will follow him.