Jason Collins allegedly receives gay taunts from fellow NBA player
theGRIO REPORT - According to the New York Daily News, Collins has endured some homophobic taunting from one of his fellow players...
Perhaps it was inevitable. As the first openly gay athlete in a major professional sport, some believed it was a matter of when, not if, Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins would be subjected to prejudice from his peers.
According to the New York Daily News, Collins has endured some homophobic taunting from one of his fellow players.
“One player, one knucklehead from another team,” Collins told the Daily News. “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 didn’t get into the specific language that was used and has not revealed the name of the player who insulted him.
“You can’t control what other people are going to do,” he said.
So far Collins’ coming out has received widespread support across the NBA. He’s received standing ovations both at home and on the road, and his no. 98 jersey (the number is in honor of slain gay youth Matthew Shepherd, who was killed in 1998), was briefly the highest seller on NBA.com.
“Not just for myself, but I think for everyone. This shows that ‘distraction’ is B.S. That it’s about the team, it’s about the sport,” said Collins. “I hope this shows all players that you can still have your life off the court and not have to hide anything. And still have your life on the court or on the field or on the ice, I guess, in hockey. That’s a credit to my teammates and the entire Nets organization from ownership to coaching to teammates to everyone.”
