Earlier this week journeyman NBA player Jason Collins, who finished this season playing for the Washington Wizards, became the first active professional athlete in one the top four major American sports to publicly come out as being gay.
This is significant, especially in the United States where gay rights are a hot button political issue between conservatives and liberals, though overall public opinion in the U.S. currently suggests a shift towards the acceptance of the LGBT community.
Jason’s announcement is of great symbolic value and its most significant contribution is as Jason puts it, to start the conversation about gay athletes in pro sports.
The public support has been almost universally positive.
NBA superstars such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were quick to take to Twitter to voice their support as did countless other athletes over a variety of different sporting codes.
Even U.S. President Barack Obama took the time to congratulate Jason on his courage.
As a symbol and a defining moment in acknowledging LGBT rights, this announcement is significant. From a sports perspective it is not.
Jason Collins has had a long career, but not a particularly exciting one. He has played 14 seasons for six different teams and boasts career averages of 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
It is impressive that he has played so long which more than likely is a testament to his character and leadership abilities, and the fact that he is a big man of which there is a relative dearth in this current NBA era.
It is significant that his announcement comes at the end of his 14th NBA season.
He has no contract for next year and he is now 34 years old.
He played very limited minutes and in only 38 games of 82 this season out.
It is very possible his career is now over which would reduce his announcement as being the first ‘active’ professional athlete to come out in one of the four major American sports to a mere technicality.
Jason’s announcement is not a Jackie Robinson moment as has been widely suggested.
Jackie Robinson was the first athlete to break the colour barrier in the U.S., who as an African American joined the then Brooklyn Dodgers of Major League Baseball in 1947.
Jackie could not hide his race and had to contend with the prejudicial views of society throughout his playing career. If Jackie Robinson did not perform it would have reinforced the perceived inferiority of African Americans in relation to their white counterparts.
Jackie excelled as an athlete and in turn played a major role in changing people’s opinions and opening the door for all future African American athletes to compete at the highest levels of their sports.
Jason Collins’ announcement is of great symbolic significance, and has encouraged debate on issues that should be discussed.
The acceptance of his announcement has reaffirmed the shift in a broader societal view on of LGBT issues.
His announcement however has the feeling of it having been overdue, the acceptance suggests that his announcement, though groundbreaking in it being the first, is not groundbreaking in it being an idea that most people would not already accept.
Jason Collins announcement will not open doors for more gay athletes to participate in pro sports as there are probably plenty of gay athletes already competing, but should encourage more gay athletes be able to be open about their sexual orientation.
It will be one of these future athletes however who will have to put in the yards of actually representing the LBGT community during a long playing career.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
A Serbian, a Canadian, a Slovenian and a Greek fellow walked into a bar … Well, they’ve actually walked into the NBA and now…
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
