Retired NBA center Jason Collins has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and will begin cancer treatment, the league announced in a statement.

The NBA issued a statement saying, ‘NBA Ambassador and 13-year veteran Jason Collins is currently receiving treatment for a brain tumor. Jason and his family appreciate the support and prayers offered and request privacy as they focus on his health and recovery.’

Collins and his twin brother Jarron played together at Stanford before both joined the NBA in 2001.

For most of his professional career, Jason kept his sexual orientation private. However, in May 2013, while he was still on the free-agent list, he came out as gay in an article for Sports Illustrated.

The following season, his former New Jersey Nets teammate Jason Kidd recruited him to Brooklyn, where Kidd was coaching the newly relocated team.

On February 23, 2014, Collins made history by signing a 10-day contract, becoming the NBA’s first openly gay player. He continued with the Nets for the duration of the season and retired in November of that year.

Jason Collins during the NBA/WNBA participation in the New York City Pride Parade in 2024

Collins remained closeted for years as he built a reputation as a defensive-minded center

Collins’ No. 98 jersey quickly became one of the league’s hottest items in 2014. He later revealed he chose the number to honor Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. 

Although some accused the team of signing Collins to attract liberal fans in Brooklyn, the Nets’ front office insisted the move was a ‘basketball decision,’ and his teammates and coaches quickly agreed.

‘Toughness, rebounding the ball, being professional,’ Kidd said of Collins. ‘He brings a lot to the table for us.’

He also became symbol for gay sports fans, many of whom felt under represented by the leagues they follow.

Jared Max, a gay New York-area sports radio personality, told The Wall Street Journal at the time the signing was a turning point in the industry.

‘There aren’t just cracks in the dam,’ Max said. ‘There are places where water is flowing right through.’

Collins’ distressing health update comes after he and partner Brunson Green married back in May.

Green, 57, is a Hollywood movie producer and earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the movie ‘The Help’. 

The couple even had one of the stars at their wedding.

Octavia Spencer posted a picture of the happy couple walking down the aisle, captioning it: ‘Welcome to the family @jasoncollins_98. You’ve chosen well, and so has he! Love you, B!’

Former NBA star Jason Collins has announced he has married partner Brunson Green

Collins became the NBA’s first openly gay player when he came out in 2013 in an open letter

Collins and Green have been together since 2014, not long after he announced his retirement from the NBA.

They reportedly got engaged in 2023 at the Los Angeles Lakers Pride Night.

When Collins first came out, he also became the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sports.

‘When I was younger, I dated women,’ he wrote at the time. ‘I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her.

‘I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.’

As well as playing for the Nets, Collins represented the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.

The 7-foot center was a First-team All-Pac 10 selection in 2001 and later played a pivotal role on two Nets teams that advanced to the NBA Finals.

He was also a favorite teammate of Kidd’s, the Hall-of-Fame point guard who remained supportive of Collins before and after he came out of the closet.

“Jason’s sexuality doesn’t change the fact that he is a great friend and was a great teammate,’ Kidd wrote on social media in 2013.