When Jason Collins announced in the spring that he was gay, he appeared poised to become the first openly gay active male athlete in a major North American sport. However, with the regular season just three weeks away, Collins remains on the free agent market.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the Kings were one of four teams to express interest in Collins during the offseason, but ultimately opted to go younger, adding Hamady N’Diaye to their camp roster. That echoes what we heard about the Knicks’ interest — New York decided to sign younger bigs like Cole Aldrich and Jeremy Tyler after kicking the tires on the 34-year-old Collins.
It’s not clear if the Warriors were one of four teams to express interest in Collins, but GM Bob Myers tells Spears that his team would have seriously considered the veteran if the roster wasn’t already flush with centers. Golden State currently has Andrew Bogut, Marreese Speights, Jermaine O’Neal, Festus Ezeli and Dewayne Dedmon under contract. However, Myers, who represented Collins as an agent before he became a Warriors executive, is hopeful that his former client will get an NBA opportunity.
“There are a lot of good players who are on the cusp of being in or out of the NBA,” Myers said. “I think he will get a chance.”
When ESPN.com’s Marc Stein examined Collins’ situation recently, he wrote that the big man will likely have more luck finding a landing spot after the season gets underway, and one NBA GM makes a similar suggestion to Spears, predicting that Collins will sign in January. While another GM indicates that Collins’ age is a concern, a source tells Spears that the 12-year veteran looks “stronger than ever” as he waits for a team to call.
I’d love to see the Sixers sign him so we have at least one veteran older than 26