Jason Collins—the first openly gay NBA player, a former Boston Celtic and college roommate of former US Congressman Joseph Kennedy III—has announced he is fighting Stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer.
Back in 2015, Collins and Kennedy were honored at PFLAG of Great Boston’s annual Pride & Passion bene-fête, where the group’s then president, Tom Bourdon, said, “Rep. Kennedy and Collins personify everything the organization stands for. Leading by example, Representative Kennedy and Jason Collins are changing hearts and minds, making environments safer for LGBTQ people.”
“Their actions and interactions demonstrate the importance of people being supportive of each other, and prove how powerful inclusion and acceptance can be,” said Bourdon.
Last week, ESPN shared the following statement by Collins, which reads in part:
I have Stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. It came on incredibly fast.
In May I married the love of my life, Brunson Green, at a ceremony in Austin, Texas, that couldn’t have been more perfect. In August, we were supposed to go to the US Open, just as every year, but when the car came to take us to the airport, I was nowhere near ready. And for the first time in decades, we missed the flight because I couldn’t stay focused to pack.
I had been having weird symptoms like this for a week or two, but unless something is really wrong, I’m going to push through. I’m an athlete. …
As an athlete you learn not to panic in moments like this. These are the cards I’ve been dealt. To me it’s like, ‘Shut up and go play against Shaq.’ You want the challenge? This is the challenge. And there is no bigger challenge in basketball than going up against prime Shaquille O’Neal, and I’ve done that.
Read Collins’s complete statement on ESPN here.
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