Jason Collins, the first openly gay player in NBA history, has died after a battle with Stage 4 glioblastoma. He was 47.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, as died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” his family announced in a statement released by the NBA. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love 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.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver remembered Collins for the lives he changed.
“Jason Collins’ impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations,” Silver said in a statement released by the league. “He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador. Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“On behalf of the NBA, I send my heartfelt condolences to Jason’s husband Brunson, and his family, friends and colleagues across our leagues,” Silver added.
Collins revealed his diagnosis publicly in December 2025in a first-person essay for ESPN, describing an aggressive brain tumor that had spread across both hemispheres in a butterfly pattern. Standard chemotherapy did not work on his form of glioblastoma, forcing him to seek experimental treatment at a clinic in Singapore.
He had married his husband, film producer Brunson Green, in May 2025, just months before his symptoms began.
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Collins came out in April 2013 in a first-person cover story in Sports Illustrated, becoming the first active athlete in any of North American’s four major sports to publicly identify as gay.
“Your life is so much better when you just show up as your true self,” Collins wrote in his final public essay.
His best statistical season was 2004-05, when he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
The biggest moment in his career, however, was not measured in game statistics. On Feb. 23, 2014, Collins stepped onto the court at the Staples Center for the Brooklyn Nets against the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the first openly gay athlete to play in a game in one of the four major professional sports leagues. He wore No. 98 that night, a number he chose to honor Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder helped lead to the passage of landmark hate crime legislation.
Collins played 13 seasons in the NBA for six teams; the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. He averaged 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in 735 career games. Drafted out of Stanford by the Houston Rockets as the 18th overall pick of the 2001 draft, Collins' rights were immediately traded to the New Jersey Nets.
He retired in 2014 and went on to serve as an NBA ambassador.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Jason Collins, first openly gay NBA player, dies after cancer battle
