{"id":333812,"date":"2026-05-13T07:09:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=333812"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T01:39:38","slug":"jason-collins-nbas-first-openly-gay-player-dies-at-47-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/13\/jason-collins-nbas-first-openly-gay-player-dies-at-47-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Collins, NBA\u2019s first openly gay player, dies at 47 &#8211; National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-byline\">\n<div class=\"c-byline__text\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t<span>By Staff<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-byline__source c-byline__source--noName\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Associated Press<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-byline__datesWrapper\">\n<div class=\"c-byline__dates\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>Posted May 12, 2026 7:08 pm<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>1 min read<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"l-article__details\" data-article-socialshare=\"true\">\n<div id=\"article-fontSizer\" class=\"c-fontSizer\">\n<p>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-fontSizer__button c-fontSizer__button--decrease c-button c-button--details c-button--mini\" data-trackable=\"true\" data-trackaction=\"Font Sizer Decrease Font\" data-tooltip-title=\"Decrease text size\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Descrease article font size<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"c-icon  c-fontSizer__icon\" focusable=\"false\">\n\t\t<use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/assets\/dist\/icons\/out\/symbol\/svg\/sprite.symbol.svg?v=03zxzk4qx#font-decrease\"><\/use>\n\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t<button class=\"c-fontSizer__button c-fontSizer__button--increase c-button c-button--details c-button--mini\" data-trackable=\"true\" data-trackaction=\"Font Sizer Increase Font\" data-tooltip-title=\"Increase text size\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"sr-only\">Increase article font size<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"c-icon  c-fontSizer__icon\" focusable=\"false\">\n\t\t<use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/assets\/dist\/icons\/out\/symbol\/svg\/sprite.symbol.svg?v=03zxzk4qx#font-increase\"><\/use>\n\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<article class=\"l-article__text js-story-text\" aria-label=\"Article text\">\n<p>Jason Collins, the NBA\u2019s first openly gay player who went on to change into a pioneer for inclusion and an envoy for the league, has died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive type of a brain tumor, his family announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Collins spent 13 years as a player within the league for six different franchises. He revealed in 2013 that he was gay, an announcement that got here toward the top of his playing profession.<\/p>\n<p>Collins had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, which has an especially low survival rate. He was 47.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJason modified lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those that admired him from afar,\u201d Collins\u2019 family said in a press release released through the NBA. \u201cWe&#8217;re grateful for the outpouring of affection 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-ad c-ad--bigbox l-article__ad\">\n<p>Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Just last week, Collins received the inaugural Bill Walton Global Champion Award on the Green Sports Alliance Summit. He was too sick to attend and his twin brother, former NBA player Jarron Collins, accepted for him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup\" data-newsletter-inline=\"\">\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/themes\/shaw-globalnews\/images\/skyline\/national.jpg\" alt=\"Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-inlineSignup__content\">\n<h2 class=\"c-inlineSignup__title\">Get breaking National news<\/h2>\n<p>Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI told my brother this before I got here here: He\u2019s the bravest, strongest man I\u2019ve ever known,\u201d Jarron Collins said while accepting that award.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-tabs\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab c-tabs__tab--active\" type=\"button\">More on Sports<\/button><br \/>\n\t\t\t<button role=\"tab\" class=\"c-tabs__tab\" type=\"button\">More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Jason Collins averaged 3.6 points and three.7 rebounds in his profession. He helped the Latest Jersey Nets reach two NBA Finals and in his best season averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds for them in 2004-05.<\/p>\n<div class=\"l-article__part\" data-shortcode=\"tp_video\">\n<div class=\"c-video c-videoPlay \" data-iframe-receiver=\"\" data-autoplay=\"\" data-displayinline-featured=\"false\" data-displayinline-type=\"video\" data-displayinline-player-id=\"miniplayer_2847156_6a03d4df5a277\" data-displayinline-video-id=\"2847156\" data-displayinline-ratio=\"16:9\" data-displayinline=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/2847156\/#autoplay&#038;stickyiframe=miniplayer_2847156_6a03d4df5a277\" data-displayinline-sticky=\"true\" data-permutive-data='{\"content\":{\"name\":\"Ex-Basketball player Jason Collins talks about LGBTQ at DNC\",\"type\":\"video\",\"sections\":[\"videos\",\"politics\",\"sports\"],\"keywords\":[\"basketball\",\"democratic-national-convention\",\"democrats\",\"dnc\",\"hillary-clinton\",\"jason-collins\",\"lgbtq\",\"philadelphia\"],\"iab\":{\"categories\":[\"Sports\/Team Sports\/Basketball\",\"News\",\"Sports\",\"News\/Sports News\",\"Sports\/Team Sports\"],\"tags\":[\"Ambassador\",\"Basketball\",\"Bill Walton\",\"Brain\",\"Brain tumor\",\"Brooklyn\",\"Brooklyn Nets\",\"Glioblastoma\",\"Jarron Collins\",\"Jason Collins\",\"Jersey\",\"Kathy Willens\",\"Milwaukee\",\"Milwaukee Bucks\",\"National Basketball Association\",\"NBA Finals\",\"Neoplasm\",\"New Jersey\",\"New York City\",\"Rebound (basketball)\"]}}}'>\n<div class=\"c-video__inner \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Ex-Basketball player Jason Collins talks about LGBTQ at DNC'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/746\/931\/2016-07-26T00-22-56.4Z--1280x720.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, \" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"c-video__duration\">2:09<\/time><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Ex-Basketball player Jason Collins talks about LGBTQ at DNC<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"l-article__copyright\">\n<p>\n\t\t&#038;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Staff The Associated Press Posted May 12, 2026 7:08 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Jason Collins, the NBA\u2019s first openly gay player who went on to change into a pioneer for inclusion and an envoy for the league, has died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[3565,5319,6967,3003,1903,1816,20770,792],"class_list":["post-333812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-collins","tag-dies","tag-gay","tag-jason","tag-national","tag-nbas","tag-openly","tag-player"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333815,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333812\/revisions\/333815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}