Full-circle

In 2001, with the 18th pick in the NBA Draft, the New Jersey Nets selected Jason Collins, the tall, lanky center out of Stanford University. Collins played off the bench, and started a significant amount of games, and was an important part of the Net’s NBA Finals run the following year.

The Nets, who have since relocated to Brooklyn, are set to bring Jason Collins back onto the roster. Yahoo! Sports confirms that Collins, who announced last year to Sports Illustrated that he is a gay man, will in fact become the first openly gay athlete in the history of the four major North American sports. The Nets, who were originally pursuing former Magic & Celtics player Glen Davis, decided to offer Collins the 10-day contract after their negotiations with Davis fell out and he signed a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The current coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Jason Kidd, was Collins’ teammate for 7 years during the Nets’ time in New Jersey.