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Washington Wizards player Jason Collins said it’s “mind-boggling” to be the first openly gay active male athlete in an American team sport.
Collins sent shockwaves around the sports world yesterday, when he took to the pages of Sports Illustrated to become the first active male jock in one of North America’s four major team sports to come out of the closet.
“I never set out to be the first,” Collins told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview aired this morning. “You’re sort of waiting around for somebody else to … raise their hand.”
Collins said he knew he’s been gay as long he can remember.
“You know the sky is blue but you keep telling yourself it’s red,” he told “GMA.” “When you finally get to that point of acceptance there’s nothing more beautiful.”
Now Collins said he hopes more athletes to take the same step he did.
“I’m ready to raise my hand but, you know, you still look around like, ‘OK, come on, guys,’ ” the 7-footer said.
“It’s time for someone else in the room to raise their hand and say, ‘You know what? Yeah, so big deal. I can still play basketball. I can still help the team win, and that’s what’s most important.”
Collins’ thunderbolt was unleashed with these words he penned in the May 6 edition of Sports Illustrated “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”
“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport,” he wrote. “But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.”
Collins told “GMA” he’s been blown away by the support he’s received immediately after the big announcement.
“It’s incredible, “ he said. “[I’m] just try to live an honest genuine life and the next thing you know, you have the president calling you.”
President Obama called Collins to offer his support, and some of basketball’s biggest stars did the same via Twitter.
“Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others” Kobe Bryant tweeted.
Former President Bill Clinton, NBA Commissioner David Stern, the NBA Players Association and the Wizards, the team for which Collins last played, offered support.
Collins’ announcement wasn’t universally embraced.
Veteran ESPN basketball analyst Chris Broussard yesterday tore into Collins, calling homosexuality “an open rebellion to God.”
Broussard has since back-peddled and made a half-hearted, middle-of-the-night apology on Twitter.
“I realize that some people disagree with my opinion and I accept and respect that,” Broussard wrote. “As has been the case in the past, my beliefs have not and will not impact my ability to report on the NBA. I believe Jason Collins displayed bravery with his announcement today and I have no objection to him or anyone else playing in the NBA.”
Collins, a Net for 6 1/2 seasons, is headed to free agency this summer.
Former and current members of the Nets had nothing but positives to say about Collins, though some admitted shock at the revelation.
“I didn’t know. Honestly, I was shocked,” former teammate Kerry Kittles told The Post. “But I’m happy for him. Jason Collins is one of the classiest guys I’ve ever known. I could give a [hoot] about his sexual orientation. He really is one of the best teammates I ever played with.”
Rod Thorn, who was president and general manager during Collins’ time with the Nets, voiced similar sentiments. He had no idea of Collins’ orientation, which the center said in the article he went to great lengths to mask.
“It shocked me,” Thorn said. “During the time he was with us, he had a girlfriend … and I thought they were very serious. But I’m happy for Jason. He was a terrific player, a smart player, a team-first player for us. He was a tough, physical guy.”
Ed Stefanski, a former Nets general manager now with Toronto, also expressed positive feelings for Collins, whose twin brother Jarron also played in the NBA.
“I texted Jason because I’m so happy for him that the weight is off his shoulders,” Stefanski said. “I’m happy if Twin’s happy.”
Two current Nets, Joe Johnson, a teammate of Collins’ in Atlanta, and Brook Lopez, like Collins a Stanford center with a twin brother in the NBA, released statements.
“Jason Collins was one of the best teammates I ever had,” Johnson said. “I respect his tremendous courage to come out and will always support him.”
Lopez said: “It is an honor for me to call Jason Collins a friend. I admire his dignity as well as his courage to come out. I will always have his back.”
Collins said in the article that he did not tell Jarron until last summer. In a companion article, Jarron Collins wrote, “I won’t lie. I had no idea. … Jason has taken a huge weight off his shoulders. And I’ve never been more proud of him.”
Jason Collins wrote he finally decided to come out after the tragedy of the Boston Marathon brought the realization that life can be horribly altered in a flash.
“Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?” Collins wrote.
Collins said he dated women because he felt he had to. But he knew he was deluding himself as well as others.
“No one wants to live in fear,” he wrote.
Collins is not the first male athlete to come out — but he is first to do so while still active in one of the four major leagues. Former NBA center John Amaechi admitted he was gay after his retirement.
Recently, Baylor’s Brittney Griner, headed to the WNBA, admitted she is gay.
Several NBA execs doubted Collins’ admission would influence his free agency.
Stefanski said Collins’ sexual orientation will not matter and that “if we were interested, what I’d look at is, ‘He’s 34, is he athletic enough? Can he help our team now?’ That is all that matters.”
Collins’ announcement yesterday was a shocker, but the veteran gave a subtle nod to gay rights all last season, he revealed today.
He wore No. 98 while playing for the Celtics and Wizards in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student killed in Wyoming — in 1998.
“Every time I put on that jersey I was already making that statement to myself,” Collins said.