Former NBA player Jason Collins has died at the age of 47 after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. His family confirmed the news in a statement shared by the NBA, saying he had fought the disease with courage.
Collins made history in American team sports
Collins became the first active male athlete in a major American professional team sport to publicly come out as gay. He announced it in 2013 in a Sports Illustrated essay, writing that he was a 34-year-old NBA center, Black and gay.
At the time, he was a free agent, and it was unclear whether he would play in the NBA again. He later returned to the Nets after the franchise moved to Brooklyn, becoming the first openly gay athlete to appear in one of the four major US sports leagues.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’ influence reached far beyond basketball. He noted that Collins helped make the NBA, WNBA and wider sports community more inclusive for future generations.
Cancer diagnosis was revealed last year
Collins announced in December 2025 that doctors had found the tumour after he began struggling to focus. He described it as spreading across the underside of his brain and said doctors had told him he could die within three months without treatment.
He was treated with Avastin to slow the tumour’s growth and also travelled to Singapore for targeted chemotherapy. Collins compared revealing his illness to his decision to come out publicly, saying life became better when he lived as his true self.
His family said he changed lives in unexpected ways and inspired people who knew him personally, as well as those who followed his story from a distance.
Nets and Stanford remember his legacy
Collins played 13 seasons in the NBA for six teams, beginning with the New Jersey Nets. He spent eight seasons with the Nets and was part of their Eastern Conference championship teams in 2002 and 2003.
The Nets said they were heartbroken by his death and remembered him as a competitor, but also as a kind and thoughtful person who brought people together.
Before the NBA, Collins played college basketball at Stanford University. Former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery called it a sad day and said Collins was one of the program’s greats, praising his size, intelligence, strength and character.
What glioblastoma means
Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer that begins in astrocytes, cells that support nerve cells. It belongs to a wider group of tumours called gliomas and is the most common malignant brain tumour in adults.
Symptoms depend on where the tumour forms and may include seizures or changes in thinking, speech, vision, strength, sensation or balance. Treatment can slow its growth, but there is no known cure.
