Jason Collins - Nominee

“Of course, life is not a Disney movie. Life is messy. There were some people in my family who made gay jokes and used inappropriate language while I was growing up. Coming out to some people was more challenging than others, but in the end, I was amazed by how much my sexuality didn't matter.”

– Jason Collins

Jason Collins was born in 1978 in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He began his basketball career as a high school student at Harvard-Westlake School alongside his twin brother Jarron where they won two California Interscholastic Federation state titles. Collins, who was a center on the court, went on to play basketball at Stanford University with Jarron where he was a number one seed in the 2000 NCAA tournament among other college basketball achievements. Immediately after Collins graduated from college in 2001, he was recruited by the New Jersey Nets and played for them until 2008. He was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2008 where he played for a brief period of time that year before being dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2008-2009 basketball season. In 2009, Collins signed with the Atlanta Hawks where he played until 2012. For most of the 2012-2013 season, Collins played for the Boston Celtics with the remainder at the Washington Wizards. Collins made history on April 29, 2013, when he publicly came out as gay in a Sports Illustrated essay which began, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm Black and I'm gay." at the conclusion of that year’s basketball season. He became the first active male athlete from the major North American professional team sports (basketball, baseball, football, ice hockey and soccer) to do so. Collins received high praise for coming out from many people around the world including then U.S. President Barack Obama. When the essay was released to the public, Collins was a free agent and wasn’t invited by any team to training camp. Questions were raised about whether he would eventually be asked to play for another team for the 2013-2014 basketball season. Collins signed a 10 day contract with the now Brooklyn Nets on February 23, 2014, another 10 day contract with them on March 5 of that year and on March 15 he signed on for the rest of the season. Nets coach and fellow New Jersey Nets player Jason Kidd was a strong advocate for signing Collins. The following night, he played 11 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Prior to that game, Collins told reporters, “My message to other athletes is to be yourself. Be your true authentic self and never be afraid to be your authentic self.” Collins played with a number 46 jersey that night but said he planned to wear number 98, to honor the late Matthew Shepard whose 1998 murder was deemed a hate crime due to his gay identity and because he wore that number with Boston and  Washington. His number 98 jersey was a top-seller on the NBA’s online shop. As a show of support, the NBA pledged that proceeds from his jersey and auctions of his autographed game-worn jerseys would go to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Glisten (formerly GLSEN). Collins retired from professional basketball on Nov. 19, 2014, after 13 seasons of play. He became an NBA ambassador and pushed for LGBTQ+-inclusion in sports after he retired. Collins also participated in LGBTQ+ organizations efforts towards equality. Those included the Trevor Project, the Human Rights Campaign, You Can Play and It Gets Better. Collins also went to numerous Pride Parades and LGBTQ+ events to support visibility for queer/trans youth and athletes. Collins married his longtime (more than 10 years) boyfriend, film producer Brunson Green, in Austin, Texas in May 2025. Three months later, Collins went to his doctor when he was having trouble focusing and they discovered he had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He revealed his diagnosis to the world and said it reminded him of when he came out as gay. Collins said the years after he came out in 2013 were “the best of my life.” He sought treatment but it proved unsuccessful. Collins died on May 12, 2026, at the age of 47 in his Los Angeles home.