The Brooklyn Nets are expected to sign Jason Collins to a 10-day contract, as first reported by ESPN. The 35-year-old veteran center will become the first openly gay active player in NBA history if signed.
Collins has not played in the NBA since coming out as gay in April and is expected to be available to play for the Nets on Sunday in Los Angeles, reported Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Both ESPN and Yahoo! Sports cited unnamed sources in reporting on the potential signing of Collins.
Nets General manager Billy King previously confirmed that the team worked out Collins last week and downplayed talk about the publicity that could result from signing him.
"We're going to bring in a basketball player," King said, via The Associated Press. "It's not about marketing or anything like that."
Nets point guard Deron Williams echoed King's sentiment about the team looking for a basketball player to help out the team.
“He’s a solid role player, I think it’s just the distraction thing, that might the thing that’s deterring teams," Williams told Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN New York. "But like I said, with us, I don’t see that being a problem.”
With reports of the impending signing circulating, Collins' twin brother, Jarron, felt that Sunday could be a day to remember.
UPDATE 3:31 p.m. ET: The Nets announced signing Collins to a 10-day contract
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