Nets Sign Center Jason Collins on New Contract

The Brooklyn Nets will ink a new 10-day contract with Jason Collins on Wednesday, according to ESPN. The seven-foot center’s initial 10-day deal is set to expire Tuesday.

Brooklyn was the first N.B.A. franchise to sign Collins after he announced he was gay during an interview with Sports Illustrated last May. The veteran has been widely celebrated since the announcement, and is the first openly homosexual athlete to compete in one of America’s four major sports leagues.

Nevertheless, the 35-year-old has played down any talk of being a human rights icon. “I’m just trying to be Jason Collins,” he said. “What Jackie Robinson did for the sport of baseball and our society [is] tremendous. But I am just trying to be Jason Collins.”

[ESPN]

Subscribe to TIME

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.