Early life

Collins was born in Northridge, California. He was born eight minutes ahead of his twin brother Jarron, who also became an NBA player.

They graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. He and Jarron won two California Interscholastic Federation state titles during their four-year careers with a combined record of 123-10. Collins broke the California career rebounding record with 1,500. Collins was backed up by Jason Segel, who USA Today opined might have ended up being the most famous player from the team.

College career

Collins played with brother Jarron for the Stanford Cardinal in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10). In 2001, Collins was named to All-Pac-10 first team, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) voted him to their third-team All-American team.

He finished his college career ranked first in Stanford history for field goal percentage (.608) and third in blocked shots (89).

Professional career

New Jersey Nets (2002-2008)

As a rookie along with Richard Jefferson, Collins played a significant role in the New Jersey Nets' first ever NBA Finals berth in 2002 against the Los Angeles Lakers. During this Finals appearance, Collins acknowledged that he is not really 7 feet tall as he has been listed since his junior year of college. He was measured 6 ft 10¼ in at the 2001 NBA combine.

In the 2002-03 NBA season Collins took over the starting center role for the Nets and helped the franchise back to the NBA Finals. During that season, Collins averaged 5.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Prior to the 2004-05 season, he signed a $25 million contract extension with New Jersey for five more years. During his time with the Nets, he averaged 4.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Collins began the 2007-08 season with the Nets and averaged 1.4 and 2.1 rebounds per game through 43 games, most of them as their starting center.

Memphis, Minnesota, and Atlanta (2008-2012)

On February 4, 2008, Collins was traded along with cash considerations to the Memphis Grizzlies for Stromile Swift. He finished the season averaging 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game coming from the bench.

On June 26, 2008, Collins was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves in an eight-player deal involving Kevin Love and O. J. Mayo. During the season, Collins averaged 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game through 31 games, in which he started 22. His best game was in November 26, 2008 against the Phoenix Suns, when he scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. After his contract expired at the end of the 2008-09 NBA season, the Timberwolves' management decided not to re-sign him.

Collins signed with the Atlanta Hawks on September 2, 2009. Collins re-signed with the Hawks in the 2010 offseason.

In 2010-11, the fifth-seeded Hawks defeated the fourth-seeded Orlando Magic as Collins slowed the Magic's dominant center, Dwight Howard. After Game 4 in the series, then-Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy called Collins' play "the best defense on all year". After two seasons and a half with the Hawks, Collins averaged 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

Boston Celtics (2012-2013)

On July 31, 2012, Collins signed an undisclosed deal with the Boston Celtics. He played in 32 games with the team, starting in 7 of them. During that time, he averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

Washington Wizards (2013)

On February 21, 2013, Collins and Leandro Barbosa were traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Crawford. He played in 6 games with the Wizards, starting in two of them.

On April 29, 2013, after the season had already concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay, becoming the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to publicly do so. Collins became a free agent in July 2013, and stated that he intended to pursue another contract. He was not invited by any team to training camp, but he worked out at his home waiting for an opportunity.

Brooklyn Nets (2014)

On February 23, 2014, Collins signed a 10-day contract to rejoin the Nets, who had since moved to Brooklyn. Nets coach Jason Kidd, who became good friends with Collins while teammates in New Jersey from 2001 to 2008, was an advocate of signing Collins. Collins played 11 minutes that night against the Lakers at the Staples Center, becoming the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues. He was scoreless, but provided solid defense in the post as the Nets outscored the Lakers by eight while he played; Brooklyn won the game by six, 108-102.

Collins wore jersey number 46 in his first game, the only number the team had available, but planned to wear No. 98—the same he wore with Boston and Washington—going forward. Collins chose to wear No. 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard whose 1998 murder was widely reported as a hate crime, and ultimately led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Collins' jersey rose to the top spot for sales at NBAStore.com, and the NBA announced that proceeds from the sales, as well as proceeds from auctions of Collins' autographed game-worn jerseys, will benefit two LGBT supporting charities, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

On March 5, 2014, Collins signed a second 10-day contract with the Nets. On March 15, 2014, Collins signed with the Nets for the rest of the season.

On November 19, 2014, Collins announced his retirement from professional basketball after 13 seasons in the NBA.

Player profile

Collins had low career averages in the NBA of 3.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, and 41 percent shooting from the field, and never averaged more than seven points or seven rebounds in a season. However, the basketball analytics community valued his defense through measurements not typically found in a boxscore. Collins was a physical player defending the post, boxed out well, and excelled at setting screens. He was precise in executing coaches' defensive strategies, and he read the opponents' movements well and communicated on defense. He also had a reputation for being a team leader, and earned consistent praise for his professionalism and intelligence on the court.

Personal life

Collins was in an eight-year relationship with former WNBA center Carolyn Moos, and the two were engaged to be married, but Collins called off the wedding in 2009.

Coming out

In the cover story of the May 6, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated, written by Collins himself and posted on the magazine's website on April 29, 2013, he came out as gay, becoming the first active male athlete from one of the four major North American professional team sports to publicly do so. He wrote that he wished to maintain his privacy in regard to specific details of his personal life, and that he is not in a relationship. Collins also said a "notorious antigay hate crime", the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998, led him to choose "98" for his jersey number, in Shepard's honor. Collins called the number "a statement to myself, my family and my friends."

Following his announcement, Collins has received high praise and support for deciding to publicly reveal that he is gay. Fellow NBA star Kobe Bryant praised his decision, as did others from around the league, including NBA commissioner David Stern. President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, former president Bill Clinton, and Collins' corporate sponsor Nike were also among those offering their praise and support for Collins. However, ESPN basketball analyst Chris Broussard stated that he did not believe that Collins can "live an openly homosexual lifestyle" and be a Christian, but thought that Collins "displayed bravery with his announcement". Collins, a Christian, responded by saying "This is all about tolerance and acceptance and America is the best country in the world because we're all entitled to our opinions and beliefs but we don't have to agree. And obviously I don't agree with his statement." The Guardian called it significant for LGBT acceptance "as professional sports had long been seen as the final frontier." Given the interest in major league team sports in the United States, the Christian Science Monitor wrote that Collins' announcement was "likely to put wind in the sails of this trend" of acceptance of gay rights in U.S. public opinion. Former tennis player Martina Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in 1981, called Collins a "game-changer" for team sports, which she referred to as one of the last areas where homophobia remained.

Collins' former fiancee, Carolyn Moos, expressed conflicted feelings and said she only learned Collins was gay shortly before the Sports Illustrated cover story.

On the day it was released, the Sports Illustrated story drew a record 3.713 million visitors to the magazine’s website, SI.com.

The New York Times called his 2014 signing with Brooklyn "perhaps basketball’s most celebrated and scrutinized 10-day contract." His No. 98 jersey became the top seller on the NBA's online store.

As of June 2014, Collins was in a relationship with producer Brunson Green.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001-02	New Jersey	77	9	18.3	.421	.500	.701	3.9	1.1	.4	.6	4.5
2002-03	New Jersey	81	66	23.5	.414	.000	.763	4.5	1.1	.6	.5	5.7
2003-04	New Jersey	78	78	28.5	.424	.000	.739	5.1	2.0	.9	.7	5.9
2004-05	New Jersey	80	80	31.8	.412	.333	.656	6.1	1.3	.9	.9	6.4
2005-06	New Jersey	71	70	26.7	.397	.250	.512	4.8	1.0	.6	.6	3.6
2006-07	New Jersey	80	78	23.1	.364	.000	.465	4.0	.6	.5	.5	2.1
2007-08	New Jersey	43	23	15.9	.426	.000	.389	2.1	.4	.3	.2	1.4
2007-08	Memphis	31	3	15.7	.508	.000	.526	2.9	.2	.4	.5	2.6
2008-09	Minnesota	31	22	13.6	.314	.000	.464	2.3	.4	.3	.4	1.8
2009-10	Atlanta	24	0	4.8	.348	.000	.000	.6	.2	.1	.1	.7
2010-11	Atlanta	49	28	12.1	.479	1.000	.659	2.1	.4	.2	.2	2.0
2011-12	Atlanta	30	10	10.3	.400	.000	.467	1.6	.3	.1	.1	1.3
2012-13	Boston	32	7	10.3	.348	.000	.700	1.6	.2	.3	.2	1.2
2012-13	Washington	6	2	9.0	.167	.000	1.000	1.3	.3	.3	.7	.7
2013-14	Brooklyn	22	1	7.8	.458	.000	.750	0.9	.2	.4	.0	1.1
Career		735	477	20.4	.411	.206	.647	3.7	.9	.5	.5	3.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002	New Jersey	17	0	13.4	.364	.000	.658	2.4	.4	.3	.4	2.9
2003	New Jersey	20	20	26.5	.363	.000	.836	6.3	.9	.7	.6	5.9
2004	New Jersey	11	11	24.2	.368	.000	.750	4.0	1.5	.3	.9	3.6
2005	New Jersey	4	4	32.0	.235	.000	.375	6.5	.3	.5	.0	2.8
2006	New Jersey	11	11	27.5	.360	.000	.591	5.0	.3	.5	.2	2.8
2007	New Jersey	12	12	27.4	.571	.000	.364	3.3	.2	.6	.3	2.3
2010	Atlanta	3	0	3.3	.600	.000	.000	1.7	.0	.0	.0	2.0
2011	Atlanta	12	9	13.2	.643	.000	.375	1.4	.1	.4	.3	1.8
2012	Atlanta	5	4	17.0	.545	.000	.000	2.4	.0	.2	.0	2.4
Career		95	71	21.4	.400	.000	.677	3.8	.5	.4	.4	3.3

Awards

On August 2, 2013, Collins was among the first class of inductees into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

Charities

Jason Collins supports the following charitable cause: Gay Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]