--- description: Brooklyn franchise gives green light for new 10-day deal with N.B.A.'s first openly gay player title: N.B.A.'s First Openly Gay Player Collins to Sign New Deal with Nets image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee9a1eb20a3dfe20/698683c3cd804d8e2bcc98ce/jason_collins_0304.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Basketball](/tag/basketball/) ## Basketball Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nets Sign Center Jason Collins on New Contract by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2014 7:50 AM CUT  Brooklyn Nets Jason Collins speaks during a news conference before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls at the Barclays Center, Monday, Mar. 3, 2014, in New York Brooklyn Nets Jason Collins speaks during a news conference before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls at the Barclays Center, Monday, Mar. 3, 2014, in New YorkSeth Wenig / AP by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2014 7:50 AM CUT The Brooklyn Nets will ink a new 10-day contract with Jason Collins on Wednesday, according to [ESPN](http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/%5F/id/10546735/brooklyn-nets-sign-jason-collins-second-10-day-contract "undefined"). 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.” \[[ESPN](http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/%5F/id/10546735/brooklyn-nets-sign-jason-collins-second-10-day-contract "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/12056/nets-sign-center-jason-collins-on-new-contract/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/12056/nets-sign-center-jason-collins-on-new-contract/"},"headline":"Nets Sign Center Jason Collins on New Contract","datePublished":"2014-03-04T07:50:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:33:31.503Z","description":"Brooklyn franchise gives green light for new 10-day deal with N.B.A.'s first openly gay player","url":"https://time.com/12056/nets-sign-center-jason-collins-on-new-contract/","keywords":["Basketball","ESPN","Sports Illustrated"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee9a1eb20a3dfe20/698683c3cd804d8e2bcc98ce/jason_collins_0304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee9a1eb20a3dfe20/698683c3cd804d8e2bcc98ce/jason_collins_0304.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"jason_collins_0304","caption":"Brooklyn Nets Jason Collins speaks during a news conference before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls at the Barclays Center, Monday, Mar. 3, 2014, in New York","creditText":"Seth Wenig / AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/basketball/","name":"Basketball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/12056/nets-sign-center-jason-collins-on-new-contract/","name":"Nets Sign Center Jason Collins on New Contract"}}]}] ```