The first NBA basketball player to admit that he is gay, struck by a cruel disease: “I have a few months to live”
Former shortstop Jason Collins (47), who in 2013 broke a wall by becoming the first openly gay man in the big four American leagues, revealed to ESPN: “My cancer is inoperable, the average prognosis is 11-14 months. If this is the time I have left, I will use it to test treatments that may one day become standard. I'm not afraid, I played against Shaq…“.
Jason Collins fought under the panel against the Spaniard Pau Gasol
“A few months ago my family issued a deliberately vague statement saying I had cancer. Now is the time for people to listen: I have stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer“.
Devastating words spoken to ESPN by Jason Collins, a 14-season NBA center for six different teams with no career trophies but a player highly regarded for his defense and physical play.
And above all, he scored a major civic victory: In 2013, he became the first professional athlete in one of the four major American sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB) to declare his identity. A decision supported by then-President Obama, Kobe Bryant and the entire NBA community.
The disease, discovered after marriage
For Collins, the cancer was a bolt out of the blue, especially since she discovered it just months after marrying film producer Brunson Green: “I had a CT scan and was told I needed to see a specialist. At one point, I fell at home and suddenly I didn't know how to turn off a machine: the tumor was already attacking me.
According to my family, I have lost my short-term memory and ability to understand. Glioblastoma is aggressive and difficult to treat because it is surrounded by the brain, a tentacled monster the size of a baseball“.
The former athlete is looking for reasons to smile
When asked how he took the bad news, Collins revealed a remarkable sense of humor: “I was crazy, I don't remember exactly. My husband, in the hospital, told me that I lost my desire to watch tennis and started enjoying Korean dramas, which are more relaxed“.
Collins is a giant, with a height of 213 cm and a weight of 110 kg: “My tumor is inoperable, so I have to undergo maintenance treatment, the average prognosis of which is about a year, ranging from 11 to 14 months. If this is all the time I have left, I'd like to devote it to testing a treatment that could one day become a new standard of care for everyone. I am fortunate to have this financial support; if what I'm doing doesn't save me, I'm happy to think that one day it might help someone else“.
