Jason Collins knew when he decided to come out as gay that not everyone would be accepting of his sexual preference. The Brooklyn Nets forward is the first openly gay player to be on an active NBA roster, and some people don’t react well to change. As you might have expected, Collins said he has been the victim of homophobic taunts since signing with the Nets.
The good news is Collins said only one player has taunted him on the court over his sexual preference. The bad news is that there are adults in the world who are that immature.
“One player, one knucklehead from another team,” Collins told Stefan Bondy of the NY Daily News on Thursday. “He’s a knucklehead. So I just let it go. Again, that goes back to controlling what you can control. That’s how I conduct myself — just being professional.”
Collins is set to make his first trip through Bible Belt states since signing with Brooklyn, which means he is prepared for the potential of hearing more nasty comments. The Nets have a series of road games in Dallas, New Orleans and Charlotte starting on Saturday.
“You can’t control what other people are going to do,” Collins said when asked if he is concerned about the trip.
Collins also said he takes pride in the fact that the Nets are 10-3 since signing him, proving that all the “distraction” talk is overstated when it comes to having a gay player on your team. From what we know, Collins has handled himself with nothing but class. He’s not looking for trouble, or he could have easily outed the player who taunted him. He just wants to play basketball.
