Nets’ Collins: ‘Life is so much better’ since coming out

Jason Collins is enjoying life back in the NBA. (USATSI)

Jason Collins is set to receive a second 10-day contract from the Nets on Tuesday, extending his stay in the NBA as the first openly gay player in American professional sports.

But with his original 10-day contract expiring today, how has it gone for him so far? He joined WFAN on Tuesday to talk about it.

"The fans have been great. It's been really special being back,” Collins said. “And I'm very proud to say that I'm playing for the Brooklyn Nets.”

The big question for so many was how an openly gay athlete would fit in to a locker room environment. But Collins says nothing has been difficult so far, noting that the locker room feels no different than it used to for him.

“This is my 13th year, and as far as the locker room goes, it's just like it was my previous 12. Like nothing's changed,” he said.

For Collins personally, though, he says his life has changed for the positive since announcing he was gay last year.

“Everything has been so exciting,” Collins said. “My life is just so much better. Living an authentic life and being accepted for who I am, it's been terrific.

"I want to be able to go on a date, hang with all of my friends, and not be outed on someone else's terms by some reporter,” he said. “Especially with social media these days.”

Collins also noted recognition to being an inspiration to others, which is one of the reasons he's elected to wear No. 98 for Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered in 1998.

“I think that it's going to encourage other athletes,” Collins said. “We all know statistically speaking that I'm not the only one and (Missouri DE Michael Sam) is not the only one. … I hope that it encourages other people to live an authentic life — an honest, authentic life — and not be afraid or ashamed to be who they really are in the public eye.”

What Collins wants though, he says, is to just be a basketball player who happens to be gay. Not a constant story

“I would love to live in a world where it wouldn't be a story. But at the same time, as a world we're not there. As a society we still have laws on the books that openly discriminate against gay people,” Collins said. “So I think when society moves forward, it gets to that point where we have equal protection under the law for all members of the LGBT community, over time the focus will change.”

Topics: Brooklyn Nets, NBA

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Dominique Wilkins is not impressed with LeBron’s 61-point performance

Dominique Wilkins was an elite NBA scorer who played 15 seasons and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

As someone who played the game and was able to take it over at times, his opinion holds a certain amount of weight — and Wilkins wasn’t all that impressed with the 61 points that LeBron James scored against the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

From Wilkins’ Twitter account:

No denying he put on a shooting display. He was hot. Let’s not forget, he was playing the Bobcats. A sub 500 team w a match up nightmare.

Where is the Defense? The Bobcats put up 107 points in a defenseless display of basketball. Offensively who was there to make Bron work on D

Why are we not talking about Al Jefferson and the MONSTER night he had 38 and 19! Yes, like I said, Bron got hot & put on a shooting clinic.

Watch the film. No close outs on D, doubles were late, rotations were slow. It was too easy to score. At 54 y/o I could drop 40 on that D

Bron is a freakish athlete, yes, no doubt. I could say I was too in my prime, but averaging 30 then against the greats like Bird, MJ, King

AND having to guard them on the other side was an all out war. You were dogged by halftime and had to pick it up & do it again the 2nd half

Let me be clear again, amazing shooting display, he was on fire and VERY efficient. My point is the Cats didn’t work him on the other end.

It isn’t just about slow rotations & poor closeouts. Who made Bron work on the other end w/ Henderson hurt and Al carrying the team?

Was this enough to now thrust Bron into MVP vote leads? We forget the body of work KD has been shouldering when Westbrook goes down?

Calm down people. Not taking anything away from a great OFFENSIVE night from one of the greatest the game has seen. He shot the lights out!

There are some valid points here, but none of them are LeBron’s fault — he didn’t put together that crap Bobcats roster, and the fact that no one on the squad could challenge him on either end of the floor frankly isn’t his concern.

Wilkins knows his stuff, so his opinion shouldn’t be easily dismissed. But the most interesting thing he said in this little rant was that Durant is still the MVP in his eyes based on his performance with Russell Westbrook out of the lineup — when LeBron turned in his magnificent performance on a night where Dwyane Wade was sidelined.