Jason Collins Retires: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Jason Collins, who rose to prominence by becoming the first openly gay player to compete in one of North America's four major sports leagues, has retired from the NBA after 13 seasons. 

Collins made the announcement on ThePlayersTribune.com and further explained his decision in a special column on SI.com:

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It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete to appear in a game in one of those leagues. It feels wonderful to have been part of these milestones for sports and for gay rights, and to have been embraced by the public, the coaches, the players, the league and history.

On Wednesday at the Barclays Center, I plan to announce my retirement as an NBA player. ...

... There are still no publicly gay players in the NFL, NHL or major league baseball. Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them. I know some of them personally. When we get to the point where a gay pro athlete is no longer forced to live in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.

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The Brooklyn Nets signed Collins last season to provide frontcourt depth and veteran leadership. He ended up appearing in 22 games and averaged a shade under eight minutes per contest. Given his limited role, his numbers were inconsequential.

Collins spoke on the importance of his relationship with Jason Kidd, who coached the Nets when the team signed Collins last year:

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The day will be especially meaningful for me because the Nets will be playing the Bucks, who are coached by Jason Kidd, my former teammate and my coach in Brooklyn. It was Jason who cheered my decision to come out by posting on Twitter: 'Jason’s sexuality doesn’t change the fact that he is a great friend and was a great teammate.'

Considering all the speculation about problems I might face within the locker room, Jason’s support was significant. It had been argued that no team would want to take on a player who was likely to attract a media circus from the outset and whose sexuality would be a distraction. I’m happy to have helped put those canards to rest. The much-ballyhooed media blitz to cover me unscrambled so quickly that a flack jokingly nicknamed me Mr. Irrelevant.

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The 35-year-old center walks away from the sport having never been a major contributor. Yet, he was a player who understood his role and was a positive influence in the locker room, which allowed him to enjoy a long career in the NBA.

His decision to retire doesn't come as much of a surprise. On May 15, after the Nets were eliminated from the 2014 postseason, Collins admitted the future was very much up in the air, according to comments provided by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com:

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With regards to basketball, I don't know right now. I am looking forward to enjoying this time with my loved ones, my family and friends and meeting a lot of great people over the summer and the next couple of months and enjoying my offseason.

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He also talked about other things he's working on following his transition into a well-known public figure over the past year:

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My goal right now is to empower others. And also support those who (are) like Derrick Gordon, Michael Sam, Robbie Rogers, and over the next months, couple of years, whoever else joins that list of out/active players.

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One of the many honors Collins received since announcing publicly that he's gay was a spot on Time magazine's "The 100 Most Influential People" list.

Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press

Chelsea Clinton wrote the piece about her former college friend at Stanford and talked about several things, including the inspiration he's become for others:

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Jason's kindness and fierceness alike derive from that word too often bandied about and too rarely true: integrity. Jason has always maintained he's first a basketball player. He is. But he's also a leader and an inspiration. For Michael Sam, Derrick Gordon and others whose names we may never know. And also for those of us lucky enough to be fans—or to call him our friend.

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At 35, Collins probably could have spent a couple more seasons as a depth player around the league. But there's no doubt he has the potential to make a much bigger impact by telling his story and helping others than as a reserve averaging fewer than 10 minutes per game.

He helped break down a wall around professional sports by suiting up with the Nets. His place in NBA history is written in stone because of that courageous effort. Now he can move on and, as he said, help empower others, as well.

Over time, those efforts, and not his basketball career, will likely be his lasting legacy. Still, there's no doubt he left a special mark on both the NBA and the sports world as a whole.