(The Root) — To much fanfare, Jason Collins told the world last spring that he was gay by writing a cover story for Sports Illustrated. The first NBA player to come out, he won widespread praise and apparent support for helping to knock down barriers in the world of professional sports.
At the time the 7-foot player was a center for the Washington Wizards. Today Collins, 34, is a free agent. He is still waiting for a call to invite him to join a team as training camp for a new NBA season gets under way, he tells the New York Times in his first interview since training began in September.
Why hasn't he been called? The answers are indelibly harsh, according to the Times. Is it because he's "a marginal player with modest career statistics nearing the end of his career"? Or is something more sinister at work, and he's being shunned because he came out?
Collins did not dismiss the latter notion or address it.
"You don't want to speculate — I don't go there," he said while picking at a bowl of greens in a cafe in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, near where he lives. But while conceding he would be at the lower end of a team's depth chart at this stage of his career, he admitted being perplexed because, he said, "I feel there are players in the league right now that, quite frankly, I'm better than."
What do you think?
Read more at the New York Times.