Even though Jason Collins only signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, NBA.com can't keep his jersey in stock. According to New York's Daily News, a league representative confirmed that the Brooklyn Nets' No. 98 jersey was the top seller at the NBA store and its website, NBA.com, on Tuesday, the first day it was made available.
Collins, who is the first openly gay player in the NBA, wears No. 98 as a tribute to Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. Collins has said that the number is a symbolic and important number in the LGBT community and that this would be his lone gesture as he keeps his focus on basketball, the Daily News reports.
In his season debut Sunday, the 35-year-old wore No. 46 because the Nets didn't have his number available on such short notice. The Daily News notes that Collins will wear No. 98 Wednesday against the Trailblazers.
The jersey is not available at the Barclays Center or any team stores.
"Historically we don’t make player-specific merchandise available for players on 10-day contracts," Barclays Center spokesman Barry Baum told the Daily News. "Once a player is signed for the entire season, we would make his merchandise available."
Read more at the Daily News.