Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins, a 14-time NBA Veteran and the First Athlete to Come Out Openly Gay, Shares Diagnosis of ‘Very Aggressive’ Stage 4 Brain ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌Cancer

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins Exposes Diagnosis of Stage 4 Brain Cancer

Jason Collins, the first NBA player to come out as gay while still playing in the league, has disclosed that he has Stage 4 brain cancer.
The ex-basketball player Jason Collins, 47, in a family statement, announced in September that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. On the exact three months from that day, Thursday, Dec. 11, he penned an emotional letter to ESPN opening up about his diagnosis in detail and saying that he intended to keep “fighting” for his health.
He recalled that the family’s initial statement was “simple, but intentionally vague” in order to safeguard his privacy at a time when he was “mentally unable to speak” for himself and when his loved ones were still in the process of grappling with what they were confronted ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌with.”

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins Shares His Diagnosis of Stage 4 Glioblastoma After Sudden Onset of Symptoms

He added, “But now, I think, it is time people hear from me directly.” He disclosed that he has “Stage 4 glioblastoma, a very aggressive and one of the deadliest brain cancer,” and that it was “incredibly fast in coming.”
In talking to the readers, Collins mentioned his marriage to “the love of my life” Brunson Green in May, at a “perfectly” arranged ceremony, he wrote. However, when the time came for them to leave for the airport for their trip to the US Open at the end of the summer, Collins said, “I couldn’t keep my focus to pack.” By that he meant it was one of the “strange symptoms” he mentioned that had been happening to him in the week prior to their trip.
Before another sentence, Collins stated, “But if I were an athlete and something was not really wrong, I would have still pushed through my limits.” Later on he wrote, “It turned out that something very wrong was ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌there.”

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins Talks About Scary CT Scan and Very Quick Cognitive Decline

At one point in his memory, he was in a CT scan at UCLA “for no more than five minutes when the technician came out and told me they were going to have me see a specialist.” Jason Collins mentioned that he was “enough in the life to know that a CT takes longer than five minutes and that whatever the technician saw on the very first images must have been really bad” he himself also inferred.”
Collins mentioned that his family told him that his “mental clarity, short-term memory, and comprehension quickly deteriorated in a very short time, literally hours,” and during the following weeks, “we would understand the extent of the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌severity.”

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins Describes the Factors That Make His Glioblastoma So Hazardous

The ex-Nets player told ESPN in his article that if you asked him “what makes his condition so dangerous, he would say that is grows very close to a very limited, small area — the skull — is very aggressive and can get bigger.” He also said, “The reason it is so hard to treat in my case is that it is enveloped by the brain and is going down on the left side of the brain — the part that makes you, ‘you’.”
His comparison of the disease was that it was like “a beast with tentacles enveloping the underside of my brain the length of a baseball.”
He shared the biopsy details and said, “The biopsy indicated that the glio I have is the one with a growth factor of 30%, thus implying that in only a few weeks if nothing will be done, the tumor will be out of space, and I will probably be dead within six weeks to three ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌months.”

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins on Being Real and Cancer Battle “Like Hell”

In his reflective piece, Collins expressed that he has always “prided” himself on “surrounding himself with the right people,” and mentioned that when he “made the announcement that I was the first active gay basketball player in 2013,” he “did not even think about it being leaked before the story was published, because I only told people who I trusted.”
He also revealed that at the moment, he can “honestly say” that existence is “way better when you are just being your true self without any fear of being your true self, whether it be in public or private.”
In a letter to fans, Collins said that he, along with his family and friends, “will not allow this cancer to kill me without putting up a fight,” and conveyed that the “goal is to keep fighting the progress of the tumors long enough for a personalized immunotherapy to be made for me, and to stay healthy enough to get that immunotherapy when it is ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ready.”

Jason​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Collins on His Prognosis and His Decision to Fight

In addition, Collins indicated that his estimation of life is “just 11 to 14 months” and stated, “If that’s the total amount of time I have, I would rather go through a treatment that could, maybe, one day be the new standard for everyone.”
After hearing the medical report, Collins informally shared with us that he talked with his twin brother Jarron and that the latter said, “‘You have to fight. No matter what, you have to fight.'”
Upon his remembrance, he also mentioned the time when after his coming-out in 2013, someone made a comment to him that his “living openly could be the support for someone who I may never meet.” Collins asserted that he “has kept that with him for many years” and if he “is able to do it again now, then it is ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌important.”