We're all glad Jason Collins came out today but, while I made a joke about it earlier, there is some truth to the idea of my joke. I mean, it's not as if Lebron came out as gay - NBA owners would be lining up to chew his balls for the opportunity of signing him to a contract. Instead, we're talking about a guy whose main claim to fame so far has been his ability to bounce from team to team over more than a decade. So when articles start coming out "Will Jason Collins be on an NBA team next year?" the real answer is, in a word, "maybe." To the standard NBA team that could use his journeyman experience, maybe Collins would be a good and economical fit…but would it be worth the publicity?
On the flip side, is the NBA now under pressure to make sure a team DOES pick up Collins, so that come next season the articles re: "nobody picked me up because I'm gay" don't start pouring out?
In the end (heh heh heh) Collins' sexuality doesn't really matter - a pro basketball player announced today that he was gay and yet the sun will still come up tomorrow - but it's still worth wondering if a next step exists, and if that next step is for an NBA/NFL/MLB star to come as gay.
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