Here on Brooklyn Balling, I’ll try to recap the chaos that was the 2013-14 Nets season with a series of “Season Review” posts on the players, trades, and even coach that shaped how this year turned out. Tyshawn Taylor was last, and Jason Collins is up next.
Although his signing was one of the most talked-about in recent North American sports history, Jason Collins seemed to provide more off the court for the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets than he did on it.
Back in February, a few days after trading for Marcus Thornton, the Nets signed Collins–who played with Jason Kidd in New Jersey when the Nets made, and lost, back-to-back NBA Finals–to a 10-day contract. Collins, who came out as gay in 2013, would become the first active openly gay player in American professional sports (and the NBA, obviously) so the signing became a huge news story even outside of sports as well as in it.
Clearly, the Nets were willing to look past the media attention that would come with picking up a player like Collins, but with his solid rapport with Kidd, the Nets’ need for a defensively-minded big man (after the trade of Reggie Evans), and playoff experience, the move was a near no-brainer. His contract, after a second one of the 10-day variety, was later extended to include the entire season.
However, Collins didn’t play a whole lot for the Nets, appearing in just 22 games during the second half of the regular season, only reaching double digits in minutes in four different games. He also didn’t get in any of Brooklyn’s playoff games either. He scored just 25 points (on 24 field goal attempts) in his time with Brooklyn, but committed 30 fouls in the same time. That just kind of sums up what he is as a NBA player.
So, it’s kind of hard to evaluate Collins’ year with the Nets because he really didn’t get much of a chance to contribute on the court. Undoubtedly, though, he was a boon to the Brooklyn locker room and probably helped mentor young Mason Plumlee a bit on the ins and outs of being a defensive power forward.
Also, and probably most importantly, he served as a huge role model to any young basketball fan or player in that sexual orientation cannot preclude anyone from realizing their NBA dreams. Once you’re between the lines on the floor, all that anyone on the Nets cared about was what Jason could do to help the team, and nothing else really matters.
He’s a truly courageous person, and although he probably won’t be back with the team for the 2014-15 campaign, he’ll be a Net for life.
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