Jason Collins comes out...

Good for him, I applaud him for the courage he showed by coming out. Has to be a pretty big blow for those who are in the "you're not born Yag" camp too, seeing as how his twin brother is straight. They had the same upbringing and even went to college together, so it would be hard to say that he wasn't born Yag.

:clapping:
 
even if a few guys have an issue with it, teams are run by stars, and no star can be homophobic at this point in public image, crushes too many endorsement opportunities
 
guaranteeed said:
think it will be easier in the NBA than most expect

Bruce Arthur ‏<s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>bruce_arthur<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px;">9m</small>
At the 2012 Olympics <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">@</s>JohnAmaechi told me there were Yag NBA players who brought their partners to Christmas parties, and were accepted.
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agree with this...I think the NFL would be much different than the NBa.
 
It was a great article too, by the way. Jason Collins really said some wonderful things, I enjoyed reading that article very much.
 
guaranteeed said:
think it will be easier in the NBA than most expect

Bruce Arthur ‏<s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>bruce_arthur<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px;">9m</small>
At the 2012 Olympics <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">@</s>JohnAmaechi told me there were Yag NBA players who brought their partners to Christmas parties, and were accepted.
Click to expand...

I hope it will be "easier" than most think, but I'm not sure I buy that Amaechi story. If that were the case, you'd think someone would have said something by now about a Yag players.
 
 
guaranteeed said:
Kobe Bryant ‏<s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>kobebryant<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px;">2m</small>
Proud of <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">@</s>jasoncollins34. Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">#</s>courage <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">#</s>support <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">#</s>mambaarmystandup <s style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 181, 210);">#</s>BYOU
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Figures he would be one of the first players to congratulate Jason for coming out. Stand up dude imo.
 
Jason Collins is gaining 15 twitter followers per second since his announcement went public.
 
thought it was an odd number to take whn he signed wit C's and whn he was asked by a reporter during i think a media day, he never really gave an answer...now the significance behind it:

Collins also explained that he wore the No. 98 this season because of the year’s significance to the Yag community. In 1998, Yag University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, tortured and tied to a fence, eventually dying from his injuries.

“When I put on my jersey I was making a statement to myself, my family and my friends,” Collins writes.
 
Lareux said:
Figures he would be one of the first players to congratulate Jason for coming out. Stand up dude imo.
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i think kobe is more of an opportunist...

ever since he got caught mouthing Yag slurs, he's all about image and imo wants to be the "leader" of the acceptance brigade
 
Retburj13 said:
i think kobe is more of an opportunist...

ever since he got caught mouthing Yag slurs, he's all about image and imo wants to be the "leader" of the acceptance brigade
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Probably true but I'm sure a loooot of kids still look up to him so in that regard good for him and especially good for Collins
 
nbafan88 said:
I heard they are making some type of group to come out together.
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might be the only team tebow signs up with at this point
Peace_5.gif
 
nbafan88 said:
:rofl:


rumor has it he is going to the CFL
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He was told by one of the CFL teams that he could come and compete for a backup QB job. It was Montreal, and their starter is Anthony Calvillo, who played 2 years at Utah St.
 
nevermind I found it:


[h=1]ESPN Sportscaster Immediately Trashes First Out NBA Player: Jason Collins Is Not ‘A Christian’[/h]By Annie-Rose Strasser on Apr 29, 2013 at 3:49 pm
chris-broussard-of-espn-e1367264315899.jpg
Chris Broussard (Credit: USA Today)

An ESPN sportscaster went on the air on Monday to publicly Yag-bash Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out Monday morning in an emotional op-ed, the first active male player of a major American sport to come out.Speaking on ESPN’s Outside The Lines, Chris Broussard said that he would “not characterize [Collins] as a Christian.” He made the comments in front of his openly Yag colleague, LZ Granderson:
BROUSSARD: Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals.If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian.
​
Watch it:
<center style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><iframe width="400" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G4PTUPXdfE0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"></iframe></center>Granderson reacted strongly to Broussard’s comments, saying, “I really don’t need Chris or anyone else telling me if I’m a Christian because Jesus tells me I am.”
Broussard has previously written on the topic of the first out NBA player, saying that it would make him personally uncomfortable because “I believe that’s a sin,” but that he believes the NBA is “ready” for a Yag player.
 
I hope they don't serve shrimp or crab at any pregame meals. Broussard really wouldn't like that.
 
Anyone else find this story a bit of a letdown in that he's a 34-year-old guy out of the league? I mean, I'm also an NBA free agent.
 
reNew Orleans said:
He has played what... 12 years in the nba so that's something.
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I'm not saying it isn't a story, but it's being presented as the first openly Yag active player, simply because he hasn't retired. Is he going to play in the league again? I'm not an NBA guy and don't really know who he is, but this seems maybe just a quarter step more courageous than the handful of pro athletes who came out after official retirement. Anyway, good for him.
 
nbafan88 said:
Don't think its as big of an issue in the NBA compared to the NFL & MLB
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I'm not saying it's a big issue, I'm wondering if the 35-year-old version will be able to find a job in the league if the 34-year-old version couldn't. That's why I'm comparing him to a retired guy coming out, even if he isn't calling himself retired.
 
Tip,

You are saying that he is coming out now because his career is basically over? I think he is coming out now because the time is right and its much more acceptable than it was 3, 5, 10 years ago.

Collins said that he was inclined to come out after the Boston Marathon bombings.
 
Tip, he's 34 but I haven't heard much about him retiring.

The things he does (set hard screens/hustle/crash boards) is the type of thing that at the very least you can value in a practice body. He typically only plays when his team faces Dwight Howard or a few other premiere centers. Not the type of player you look at and think oh he's lost a step, since the things he doesn't aren't really driven by athleticism. He's basically gonna be a veteran minimum guy for as long as he wants until he doesn't wanna do it anymore, at least he's capable of it for a few more seasons.
 
nbafan88 said:
Tip,

You are saying that he is coming out now because his career is basically over? I think he is coming out now because the time is right and its much more acceptable than it was 3, 5, 10 years ago.

Collins said that he was inclined to come out after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying it will be a bigger deal when an active pro athlete actually on a team comes out.
 
Read this

The New Jersey Nets trainer used to walk down the hall to Lawrence Frank's office and tell him those knees of Jason Collins' were too badly beaten up, that the coach should prepare for the possibility of Collins sitting out. "There were so many times where we would say that there's no way [Collins] could play, but he always did," Frank told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. "And he always gave you everything he had, every time."
As it turns out, Jason Collins played with pain and suffered in silence. This was part of the reason that such admiration washed over Frank for Collins' proclamation as the first active Yag player in sports history. For bigger reasons, everyone else will appreciate Collins the way his old coach did, the way his old teammates did: He's a man's man and a pro's pro.
Those who know Collins were surprised on Monday – and then they weren't at all. They know Collins is a man of intelligence and character, and has had forever an understanding of how to make his way in the NBA and the world.
For a player whom he literally couldn't run an offensive play for – "No coach ever has, nor ever will," Frank laughed – those seven seasons together as an assistant and head coach shaped the way Frank framed professionalism and understanding of self in the NBA.
[Related: NBA veteran Jason Collins announces he is Yag | Photos: Collins]
Collins was tough and resilient, smart and selfless. He made his living defending Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard, disrupting them with equal parts physicality and shrewdness. For a time, Collins was in the top three in the NBA for taking charging calls.
ba1ed544-64d2-41e3-9586-14de40b54f3d_collinsfrank.jpg
Jason Collins has long been one of former Nets coach Lawrence Frank's favorite players. (Getty Images)This time, he takes the biggest charge of all: Collins has come out as professional sports' first openly Yag active player.
"Jason has lasted in the league, because he's always understood exactly who he is," Frank says.
Maybe soon, Collins will tell the truth on everything: He's no 7-footer. He probably isn't 6-10. Yet, Collins needed every edge, and 7-feet always sounded more menacing in the media guide. He has no discernible offensive skill and less athleticism. Because he's smart, tough and, yes, tall, he still had a job with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season.
"He missed on our game plan about as often as Jason Kidd missed an open man on the break," Frank says. "Which was basically never."
[Twitter reaction: Kobe Bryant, others voice support for Jason Collins | Watch]
Before Bobby Marks was the assistant general manager of the Brooklyn Nets, he was a young front-office employee charged with assisting New Jersey Nets players with everything that comes off the floor: finding apartments and houses, tickets, whatever. So here had come the first-round pick out of Stanford in 2001, and Collins never had to come out as Yag to be unforgettable and unique in the jock culture of the NBA.
"He was different than everyone else," Marks told Yahoo! Sports. "He was our tough guy, and he'd go out and set hard screens all night, knock a couple people down. And then, the next morning, you'd see him and all you would talk about were world events.
"Because of who he is – his parents, his family, his character – he will be able to handle whatever comes with this mantle. I always remember: Back in '04, Jason laid out Timmy Thomas of the Knicks early in that playoff series. Just crushed him. Then, he had to walk into Madison Square Garden as the villain for Games 3 and 4.
"They went after him real good, and he never flinched."
Of course, this is different. This isn't about the jeers in the arena, but the whispers and nods on the sidewalk. Yet also understand there isn't a major team pro sport that'll support Collins the way the NBA will. Not baseball. Not football. It's easy for everyone to come out supporting Collins in statements and Twitter posts, but the test will be when he goes to get another job next season, when there are private moments in the locker room.
With the shortage of bench big men, with the shape he's kept himself in, Collins will get a contract before next season. His signing will require a news conference, some interviews along the way, and that'll be that. In most instances, basketball is far more enlightened, and long has been. NBA commissioner David Stern deserves credit for it, because he's demanded it.
201304291053392227985-p2.jpeg
Collins, left, has built a reputation as a tough player who won't back down against the best. (AP)In the NBA and outside, I've known of other Yag athletes and the way the silence tears them up, the way the culture and industry has long forced them to be someone else. It's torture, and reading Collins' moving, eloquent essay in Sports Illustrated on Monday morning suggests this revelation will give him peace.
[Watch 'Dan Patrick Show': Why now for Jason Collins?]
From the people who matter – his family and friends, teammates and team officials, and the Yag and lesbian community – Collins will have a forever legacy in pro sports. He isn't a star coming out in his prime, but a fringe player coming out near his career's end. Above everything else, Collins is a start. He's the beginning. He makes it easier for the next star to tell the truth, if that turns out to be important for him.
Maybe most of all, he makes it easier for young people everywhere suffering in silence – in the locker room, the band, the chess club, wherever – to find encouragement, perhaps validation. Courage begets courage.
As he was running errands on Monday, Frank – freshly fired as the Detroit Pistons coach – found Collins' declaration to be downright inspiring. The running joke on his Pistons coaching staff had been his longing and appreciation for Collins. Frank hadn't been with Collins for five years, and yet he was forever telling stories of him, forever linking Collins with Jason Kidd and Kevin Garnett as the favorite players he had ever coached.
"They used to laugh at me sometimes, but [Collins] is special," Frank says. "He's who you wanted in a teammate, who you wanted in your locker room."
The news on Monday doesn't change those truths for an NBA ten, perhaps maybe only strengthens them. This is a league that rewards the tough-minded and tough-playing with winning. Collins has never stood tougher, never stronger. Beyond old coaches and teammates, everyone gets to hear about Jason Collins now, gets to understand a legacy that'll go beyond a proud, if pedestrian playing career.
"You could always count on Jason to have everyone's back, to never let his teammates down," Frank says. "All his life, he's stood up."
Never taller than now, whatever he says about 7-feet tall.
 
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