100 Heroes: Jason Collins
The gay man who became the NBA's first openly queer player.
It's been announced by his family that Jason Collins has died at the age of 47.
Not only did Jason Collins become the first openly gay player in the National Basketball Association, but he is reportedly the first active male athlete on a major American professional team sport to come out as gay when he began to publicly discuss his sexuality in 2013. He was 34 at the time.
Originally from California, Collins played for six teams in his 13 seasons in the NBA
Collins died from an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. He was diagnosed in December 2025. He underwent treatment but it's an operable form of cancer and the prognosis was never good.
Revealing his diagnosis, Collins said that the cancer was discovered when he began to struggle to focus on anything.
"Your life is so much better when you just show up as your true self, unafraid to be your true self, in public or private..." said Collins, when he first spoke to the media in 2013 about his sexuality. "This is me. This is what I'm dealing with."
