Jason Collins may have made history this spring by becoming the
first active NBA player in history to come out as gay but there is a question
of whether he will even be active next season.
Collins, 34, had just completed the season playing for the Boston
Celtics then the Washington Wizards when his story went public on the cover of
Sports Illustrated. He was a free agent who had played in only 38 games the
entire season.
'I look at it, honestly, like any other free agency in the past
several years, where I know I have to stay patient,' Collins tells The New York Times.
'I know that at this point in my career, you remain hopeful that
there’s a job and an opportunity waiting for you once teams start to fill out
their rosters,' he says.
Collins has not been a starter for the last six years and has
become accustomed to waiting until the late summer to find out the next
season's assignment. Last year, Boston signed him on 31 July and in 2009, the
Atlanta Hawks signed him to a one-year deal on 2 September.
'It won’t weigh on me,' Collins tells The Times. 'I’ve been
blessed. I’ve played 12 years in this league. Not a lot of professional
athletes, not a lot of basketball players, can say that they’ve played for over
a decade.'
He adds: 'But at the same point, I still feel like, just like a lot
of other professional athletes, that I still can contribute to a team and I
still have something left to go out and prove.'
UNFORTUNATELY TEAMS WILL NOT SIGN HIM TO PREVENT THE MEDIA CIRCUS THAT WILL FOLLOW HIM..unfortunate but a reality.
ReplyDeleteI hope this isn't reality
ReplyDeleteAnyone likes
ReplyDelete