Jason Collins’s Coming Out is a Step in the Right Direction

Jason Collins came out as gay today. It’s not very often that a career NBA journeyman (best season: 2004-05 with the New Jersey Nets, when he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 80 games played) can make news that causes you to go, “What?”

But that’s what I did when I heard on the radio this morning that Collins had written a beautiful first person piece for Sports Illustrated.

Over the course of the day, I’ve tried to think about where this ranks. Is this a big deal, small deal, or no deal at all?

It can’t be no deal. Collins is the first active athlete in one of the three major league team sports in the United States to come out. That means something.

He’s not a superstar or an indispensible cog; he’s a bench player. He only played in 38 games this past season. That’s a lot of DNP-CDs. He is 34 years old and is a free-agent come July 1, so he might have been a long shot to make a roster in the NBA next season anyway.

The natural inclination is to say that this is a small deal, but it would have meant more if, say, a superstar NFL player were to come out—someone who was a household name from coast to coast. That’s what would cause a greater commotion. That would have more significance.

Hogwash.

Even the little earthquakes can have great meaning.

Even the smallest breaking down of the closet door in the lockerroom can have a lasting impact.

On social media, there was a discussion that involved a hack of a broadcaster. I won’t name him or link to him because I don’t want to give him any more attention than he wants or deserves. Suffice it to say, he didn’t think that Jason Collins was a hero.

Jackie Robinson was a hero, but not Jason Collins.

I’ve never been one to use that tired line of thinking; the first professional gay male athlete in a major league sport was never going to be Jackie Robinson. It’s a bad argument. No, it’s a lazy argument and does a disservice to the legacy of both Robinson and whoever the gay pioneer was/is going to be (depending on if Collins actually gets to continue his career).

But to say that Jason Collins is not a hero is showing your own personal bias.

I saw people responding that a guy coming out of the closet can’t be a hero. First responders (firefighters/police officers) are heroes. The men and women who serve our country are heroes.

That is true. They are.

But if you are a young gay man who loves basketball and wants to play professionally, then maybe Jason Collins is going to be your hero.

From Dictionary.com:

he·ro
/ˈhɪəroʊ/ Show Spelled [heer-oh] Show IPA

noun, plural he·roes; for 5 also he·ros.

1.

a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2.

a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: 

 

And in the end, that’s what really matters.