NBA’s first openly gay player reveals brain cancer diagnosis

Former professional basketball player Jason Collins, the first active athlete in a major American professional team sport to come out as gay, has announced that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Collins was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma, he wrote in an article for sports broadcaster ESPN on Thursday, and is currently undergoing treatment to stop the spread of his inoperable disease.

The brain tumor, he says, is like “a monster with tentacles spreading across the underside of my brain the width of a baseball.”

Without treatment, he would be dead in three months, doctors told Collins.

Collins, who played 13 seasons in the NBA, wrote that the challenges of treatment are somewhat similar to those he faced on the court.

“As an athlete, you learn not to panic at times like this,” he said, comparing the treatment to fighting basketball star Shaquille O’Neal or his decision to come out as gay.

“To me, it’s like, ‘Shut up and go play against Shaq.’ Want a challenge? This is a challenge,” he wrote.

“And there’s no greater challenge in basketball than going up against Prime Minister Shaquille O’Neal, and I did that.”

The Collins family released a brief statement in September saying she had a brain tumor, but said in their article that “it’s time for people to hear directly from me.”

The 47-year-old sports veteran writes that the cancer was discovered after he had trouble focusing.

He describes how shortly after marrying his wife in May, he missed a flight because he couldn’t pack his luggage.

A brain scan later revealed the source of his problems with focus and memory.

“My mental clarity, short-term memory and comprehension are gone — turning into the NBA player’s version of ‘Dory’ from ‘Finding Nemo,'” he jokes of the Disney movie’s forgetful fish.

Revealing his diagnosis to the world reminds him of his decision to come out, he says. The years since coming out “have been the best of my life”.

“Your life is so much better when you just show up as your true self, don’t be afraid to be your true self, in public or in private. This is who I am. This is what I’m dealing with.”

Collins is currently being treated with a drug called Avastin to slow tumor growth, and traveled to Singapore for targeted chemotherapy.

He writes that he hopes his treatment will help develop better methods to fight the disease and that he can lead a path similar to what he did as the NBA’s first openly gay player.

“After I came out, someone I really respect told me that my choice to live openly could help someone I may never meet,” he says.

“I stuck to that for years. And if I can do it again now, then that’s important.”

The California native played for six teams in his 13 NBA seasons. He was previously on Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people. He retired in 2014.