Jason Collins, the first active NBA player to come out as gay and later a global sports ambassador, has died at 47 from brain cancer. He passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family, after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.
In November, Collins revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain cancer. Last winter, he traveled to Singapore for experimental treatments not yet approved in the United States. Those treatments proved effective enough for him to return home, attend All Star Weekend events in Los Angeles, and watch a game at his alma mater, Stanford (NCAA).
The cancer recently recurred. “We are deeply saddened to announce that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother, and uncle, passed away after a brave fight against glioblastoma,” his family said in a statement released through the NBA. “Jason transformed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to everyone who knew him or admired him from afar. We are grateful for the overwhelming love and prayers we have received over the past eight months, as well as the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him tremendously.”
Collins played 13 seasons in the NBA for six teams: the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Washington Wizards. He retired in 2014.
In a December 2025 interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Collins shared his cancer journey. He described how symptoms first appeared: “In May, I married the love of my life, Brunson Green, in a perfect ceremony in Austin, Texas. In August, we were supposed to go to the US Open, as we do every year, but when the car arrived to take us to the airport, I wasn’t anywhere near ready. For the first time in decades, we missed the flight, because I couldn’t concentrate enough to pack… I’d had strange symptoms like this for a week or two, but unless something is really wrong, I push through. I’m an athlete. According to my family, within hours, my mental clarity, short-term memory, and comprehension vanished, turning me into the ‘Dory’ version of an NBA player from ‘Finding Nemo.’ In the following weeks, we discovered how serious it was.”
Regarding the lethal nature of his cancer, Collins explained: “What makes glioblastoma so dangerous is that it grows in a very limited, contained space (the skull), is highly aggressive, and can expand. What makes it so difficult to treat in my case is that it’s surrounded by the brain and invading the frontal lobe, which defines who you are… My glioblastoma is multiforme. Imagine a monster with tentacles spreading across the bottom of my brain, the width of a baseball.”