Jason Collins, who made history in 2013 as the first active male athlete in a major North American professional sports league to come out as gay, has died at the age of 47. His family announced on Tuesday that he had died following a "valiant fight with glioblastoma," an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. "Our family will miss him dearly," the family said in a statement. "Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar."

Collins had publicly disclosed his diagnosis in late 2024, describing the tumour as "a monster with tentacles spreading across the underside of my brain the width of a baseball." Doctors told him that without treatment he would have had only three months to live. He underwent treatment with the drug Avastin to slow the tumour's growth and travelled to Singapore for a targeted form of chemotherapy. He drew a parallel between revealing his diagnosis and his landmark decision to come out, saying that living openly as his true self had made the years since 2013 "the best of my life."

A California native who played college basketball at Stanford University before being selected 18th overall in the 2001 NBA draft, Collins spent 13 seasons in the league across six teams — the New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Washington Wizards. He was part of the Nets teams that reached back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. His coming-out essay, published on the cover of Sports Illustrated, opened with the words: "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm Black and I'm gay." The piece drew widespread support, including from then-US President Barack Obama. Collins subsequently returned to the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first openly gay athlete to compete in any of the four major US professional sports leagues. He retired in 2014.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver paid tribute, saying Collins had helped make the league and the broader sports community "more inclusive and welcoming for future generations" and would be remembered "for the kindness and humanity that defined his life." The Brooklyn Nets said they were "heartbroken," noting that his "courage and authenticity helped move the game — and the world — forward."

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumour in adults, originating in cells that support nerve tissue. While treatments can slow its growth, there is no known cure. Collins had appeared at the New York City Pride Parade as recently as 2024 and was once named among Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. He was 47.