Jason Collins, the NBA's first openly gay player who has served as a global ambassador for the sport for the past decade, has died of brain cancer, his family said Tuesday. He was 47.
Collins told ESPN in November that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. He traveled to Singapore this past winter to receive experimental treatments not yet authorized in the United States. Those treatments were effective enough for him to return home, attend NBA All-Star Weekend events in Los Angeles and attend a game at his alma mater, Stanford.
But the cancer returned recently, and Collins died peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family.
"We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma," his family said in a statement released through the NBA. "Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly."
Collins retired in 2014 after a 13-year career that included stops with the New Jersey Nets, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington and a return to the Nets after they moved to Brooklyn. He announced he was gay in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story, becoming the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four main North American sports leagues.
"When I chose to come out, there was no scandal or anything," Collins told ESPN in November. "This was like, I feel that I am good enough to play in the NBA and by the way, I'm gay. Just so everyone knows cards on the table, this is where I am.
"Thankfully the Nets were the one team that gave me a tryout."
Collins played 22 games for the Nets that season, alongside teammates Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson. The coach of that team was Jason Kidd, whom Collins had played with as teammates on the New Jersey Nets team that made the NBA Finals in 2002-03.
"When I did come out publicly, it was interesting, it was very rare, but I got back-to-back calls from Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama," Collins said in that November interview with ESPN. "President Obama said 'Congratulations -- what you've done today will have a positive impact on someone you might not ever meet in your lifetime.'
"I think that's a really cool thing and I want to do that again as far as having an opportunity to help someone that I might not ever meet in my lifetime."
In a statement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Collins' "impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations. He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador.
"Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others."
At Stanford, Collins made nearly 61% of his shots in his career, which remains a school record. He was an honorable mention selection for The Associated Press' All-America team in 2001, a few months before the Houston Rockets took him with the 18th pick in that year's NBA draft.
"It's a sad day for all of us associated with Stanford basketball when we lose one of the program's greats," former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "We all have great memories of Jason and the kind of person he was. ... The impact he had on Stanford was immense, as he could match up against anyone in the country because he was big, smart, strong and skilled, all while being a very bright and nice person."
Collins said doctors told him when he was first diagnosed that he'd have between six weeks and three months to live if he did nothing to treat his particularly aggressive type of brain tumor.
"I started researching glioblastoma and all of my options. I wanted to know everything about what I was facing," Collins wrote in a first-person story published by ESPN in December.
"As an athlete you learn not to panic in moments like this. These are the cards I've been dealt. To me it's like, 'Shut up and go play against Shaq.' You want the challenge? This is the challenge. And there is no bigger challenge in basketball than going up against prime Shaquille O'Neal, and I've done that."
Collins chose a treatment plan that he felt would give him the best quality of life, while also giving him a chance to extend his life beyond the initial prognosis.
Collins was able to complete the initial parts of his treatment plan but the cancer returned too quickly for him to complete all of it. He is survived by his husband, Brunson Green; parents Portia and Paul Collins; and twin brother Jarron Collins, who also played in the NBA and was most recently an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Just last week, Jason Collins received the inaugural Bill Walton Global Champion Award at the Green Sports Alliance Summit. He was too ill to attend, and Jarron accepted for him.
"I told my brother this before I came here: He's the bravest, strongest man I've ever known," Jarron Collins said while accepting the award.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.