Twelve Years Later, Jason Collins Is Still the Only NBA Player to Come Out. Why?
Subscribe nowIn April 2013, Jason Collins made NBA history as the first active player to come out as openly gay. He penned an article in Sports Illustrated that immediately went viral, making international headlines. Many in the sporting world, including the late Kobe Bryant and NBA Commissioner David Stern, praised the two-time NBA finalist's courage. Collins also received praise from Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Oprah Winfrey and First Lady Michelle Obama.Many believed Collins admission would lead to a snowball effect of other men feeling confident enough to come out in sports. But 12 years later, that hasnt happened. Today, out of the nearly 4,000 players in the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL, there are currently zero openly gay or bi players. This stat is even more remarkable when you take into consideration that nearly 30% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ.So whats taking so long? And what can be done to make it easier for young men and boys to feel confident coming out in sports? We called up Collins to get his take.Watch the full interview above or read the transcript here:Spencer Macnaughton: Hi everyone! I'm here with Jason Collins, former NBA basketball star who played 13 seasons, including in two finals. He also happens to be the first and still the only openly gay player to come out while still actively in the NBA. Jason, thank you so much for speaking with me and Uncloseted Media today.Jason Collins: Thank you for having me.SM: So I definitely want to talk a lot about current day stuff, but I'd be remiss not to rewind. You come out in 2013 as the first openly gay player in the NBA. You have former president Barack Obama [calling you], Oprah calling you. You were all over national news, international news. Tell me about the pros and cons of having made the decision to do that. How has it transformed your life?JC: Wow. By not having to hide who I am, just being able to live an authentic life. There's something powerful about being the one to out yourself and step forward and speak your truth. There's no greater feeling.SM: And you spoke a lot after you came out about having sleepless nights, about experiencing depression, about just wanting to go back in your room and not hang out with the other team members. Can you kind of articulate a little bit more about what those nights were like?JC: I think everyone can relate to having lots of stress in your life. So it is like that. Having extreme stress, you are dealing with something that when you're in the closet, the stress that comes along with that, the energy in your gut, it can make you actually physically so nervous and anxious, and you're devoting energy that you have in the day towards combating that versus towards accomplishing your goals and accomplishing whatever it is that you want to do. But again, when you do step forward, that's why people talk about a weight being lifted off your shoulders. Because you're no longer devoting that energy that you were expending to keeping the secret and hiding and like, Oh, am I saying it this way? All of that is gone, and you can focus on what is truly important in your life, which is accomplishing your goalsPhoto: Keith AllisonSM: One of the reasons I started this publication that keeps me up at night is that 41% of LGBTQ kids in the U.S. seriously considered suicide in [2023]. Did it ever get that bad for you?JC: It definitely got to very dark, lonely places because I felt like I was going through this alone. When I was younger, I was constantly looking for those role models, of people who have sort of been down this path. And in male sports, there really wasn't an active player. Now you can look at my example, you can look at Robbie Rogers in Major League Soccer, Carl Nassib in the NFL. There are now, with regards to male athletes, people who have stepped forward and still been able to go out there and do their job as professional athletes and have found inspiration from Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, you name it, of those other female athletes. But when I was younger, I was looking for those male athletes.SM: Mm-hmm. Me too. And even today, there's obviously been so much progress. Over one-fifth of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ. But currently in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, of the roughly 3,600 players, there is not one openly gay or bi man right now. I would call that a crisis. Why do you think that is still the case in 2025?JC: It's still the case because there are people who have fear to step forward and speak their truth. You need to continue to push the sports leagues in the sports franchises to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, whether it's participating in pride parades, marches or hosting pride games. And in this climate that we're in, where there's such an attack on DEI, it's important to speak to your values and speak to your community of people who support your franchises, your athletes.Photo: Marissa GawelSM: I remember reading that article in 2013 and I had just finished playing varsity tennis in college. I grew up an athlete and always wanted mentors like you to come out and say, Hey, I'm gay and I'm playing in sports. So that was really meaningful for me. And I remember thinking, There's going to be a snowball effect now, more and more men are going to come out. But we're now in 2025, 12 years later, why specifically do you think that's still not really happening?JC: Yeah, there's still a lot of homophobia. There's a lot of homophobia in our society. There is a lot of homophobia still in sports, in particular, male sports. And we still have a lot of work to do as far as creating those environments that those athletes do feel comfortable to step forward [in] and share who they are. It's about education and letting them know it's okay to say, I am gay, I am bisexual. You know, you name it, but it's okay. It's okay to speak your truth.SM: What other things systemically do you think can happen inside the locker rooms or on the fields or on the courts? Are there other examples of things that we're not necessarily seeing in the mainstream that you think would make a difference?JC: Well, I think a lot of the work that happens is in those day-to-day, person-to-person connections that we have. Or even in a team environment. It's important to empower people to speak up when they hear something that isn't in line with an accepting environment, you need to say something. You never know who's in the locker room. You never know, whether it's a player, a teammate of yours, a coach, an owner. But when you do have and hear homophobic language, it's important to speak [up], call it out, pull someone aside and say, Hey, I heard what you were saying earlier, and I need to talk to you about this language that you're using. That is what allyship looks like, being in those spaces and then using your voice in those moments and saying, Hey, let's not use that language.Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused journalism.SM: Yeah, I also think masculinity plays into this so much. I remember in grade eight, I was playing basketball and tennis and had to decide which one to play. And I chose tennis because I didn't wanna deal with the homophobia in the locker room or seeing other naked people in the locker room and all the complications that it comes with. How much does masculinity play into this? And what can be done to have straight guys holding other straight guys accountable for hate, which is what homophobia is?JC: You need to have these conversations. You need to bring in people who are experts or just have more information to help. Because maybe you do want to have that environment, but you just don't know how to go about it. If you're a coach or if you're an athletic director or even a headmaster out of school, you have to seek out help. You have to bring other organizations who have expertise. And it can be as simple as a 30- to 60-minute conversation, but at least you're laying the groundwork down for educating those players, educating those athletes. These are the values that we talk about with regards to our team: accountability, teamwork, hard work, hustle, creating that great team environment. And then when someone does step out of line, you say, Okay, when you use those words, that language, you did not step up to our principle of teamwork, of creating an environment where everyone feels accepted, and you're getting everyone to focus on the main goal, which is that winning, which is then going out there and playing your best.SM: And I keep going back to that number, zero openly gay or bi right now, right? And I think about the talent drain that this is probably having on sports like basketball. But the number of kids who just said, I don't wanna deal with that, so I'm gonna push myself out of the sport. How big do you think the talent drain or talent loss is by having these closeted guys just saying, No, not for me. I don't wanna deal with the potential pain of homophobia.JC: There are ways that you can improve yourself as an athlete, whether it be with just learning fundamentals, to watching tape, to going into the weight room, to the track, but all that takes energy and focus. And when you're diverting that energy and focus into trying to hide who you are, it takes away from the best possible product. A best possible version of yourself that you're bringing to the table, that youre bringing to your team, to your sport. And as a coach, I want my players to bring the best versions of themselves to our team, to our court, to our field. So just from a standpoint of, I want the best version of my team, of my players. This is very important for coaches, for those people in leadership positions, to think about as far as, How do I get the best possible version of my athlete? And this is one way you do that is by creating a team environment where everyone feels safe.SM: That's really interesting. So it's almost two-pronged. Like the next Jason Collins or Kobe or LeBron, you want to create a safe space so they have the opportunity to perform at their best. But also a safe place so they don't just quit full stop and never see what could have been possible.JC: Exactly.Photo courtesy of Collins.Subscribe for nonpartisan, LGBTQ journalism.SM: I know you grew up in quite a religious environment and I wonder, what can we do in a lot of these Bible Belt towns where the next LeBron could be training right now, but is in an extremely homophobic environment. How can we intervene in circles where the coaches and the teachers are people who believe that homosexuality is a sin? Is there any way we can make those experiences a bit better for kids in those environments?JC: A lot of it goes back to leadership. I was very fortunate because one of the elders in our church was my grandmother. My grandfather was a deacon in the church. And for my grandmother, everything was about love. Jesus was about love. Usually religions are supposed to bring people together and are a way for people to come together. And usually it's through love. Jesus was about love and acceptance. And we saw that even with Pope Francis. One of his last messages before leaving was about accepting and showing love and compassion to others. And then for me, that was my grandmother. We need those people who are in position, who have that sort of seniority or voice or platform within the church, to use that platform of love and acceptance to help create environments and then speak to those who maybe have a different perspective and try to bring them around to, which I believe should be a common thread, which is that with regards to Christianity is that, it's about love. Love and acceptance. So let's start there. How do we bring more people to the table and serve others? Because that was what Jesus was about, He was about serving others, which goes back to team sports, creating those environments of love and acceptance and, again, safe spaces. So there are common themes in religion that can translate to team sports.Collins and his grandmother. Photo courtesy of Collins.SM: There are currently 42 openly LGBTQ women in the WNBA right now. Anything else on why that gender divide is so much? What's taking men so much longer to come out? And some people call it the last closet.JC: I think you touched on it before as far as the macho-masculinity component with regards to it, that goes sort of hand in hand with homophobia. In our society, it's one of those issues where women, with regards to sports, are able to step forward. If a player were to come out tomorrow in Major League Baseball, there's going to be media fanfare and media attention. I will say that on good teams, when you do step forward and speak your truth, the good teams will come and rally around you like Robbie's did with him, Carl's did with him and then also my teammates did with me. It brought us together, and if anything it isn't a distraction in a negative way, it's a positive thing on those good teams. Because then like they all come together and like I got to support my brother and then we're going to go out there and take it out on, you know, the next opponent. And in my opinion, it's a positive thing because it will bring the team closer, especially on those good teams.Collins and Billie Jean King. Photo courtesy of Collins.SM: What's your message to guys right now who are closeted? Because of course there are guys who are closeted right now in these leagues who are living in Trump's America, which is very aggressive towards the LGBTQ community, but are thinking, Maybe I wanna come out. What's your message to them 12 years after you've done just that?JC: My message to them is A: You can do it, but B: You have to have a plan. You have to have that support system in place. Be strategic. When I did make my announcement, I made sure that every interview that I did was in the realm of sports. If I did interviews, it was usually with Disney, ABC, ESPN, because that's who the NBA had their contract with. But there were a lot of other things that we said no to. We said no to a documentary crew. We said no to certain interviews because it just wasn't in the realm of like sports. And also know that you don't have to go through this alone. There's a network. I was very fortunate that I was able to reach out to Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, my friend, Billy Bean, who unfortunately recently passed away from Major League Baseball. And you can take bits and pieces from our story and see how our experiences can then help you navigate this world and continue to live your life. Take advantage of those resources that are out there and those people and create that sort of safety net.SM: There's obviously so many closeted gay and bi boys. What would your message be to the gay high school footballer in Louisiana, you know the gay hockey player in Canada and so on on the basketball court as well. What would your message be to the countless young boys out there who are getting into sports and who might really be afraid to take it to the next level, because they know they're living with this secret with this skeleton in their closet?JC: Hey, don't look at it as a skeleton in your closet! It's not, it's who you are! I will say that your life is so much better when you celebrate everything that makes you unique and embrace who you are. This is one of the positives of social media. There are resources available that you can connect to in a semi-anonymous way if you want to. Whether it be reaching out to an organization like Athlete Ally, like A Call to Men, my biggest piece of advice is don't feel like you have to go through this journey alone. There are many resources available and please reach out. And if you do so anonymously, or you know, semi-[anonymously], there are so many people who know how to keep a secret out there and will protect you and help you so that you get to a point where you feel safe enough. And you have resources in place so that you can step forward and speak your truth and live your life. And again, there's no greater feeling than after the game is over and having your significant other alongside everyone else's in the family room or waiting for you after the game and just being a normal athlete, which is what you are.SM: Jason Collins, such an important conversation. Thank you so much for speaking with me and Uncloseted Media today.JC: Thank you so much for having me. And I wish everyone out there love and acceptance and a safe space to thrive in life.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media
