Building on his initial announcement, former NBA star and first openly gay active player Jason Collins shared vivid personal insights into his stage 4 brain cancer battle in an ESPN essay, likening the tumor to a 'monster' and his mindset to matchups against Shaquille O'Neal.
In his emotional ESPN essay published Thursday, Jason Collins expanded on his stage 4 glioblastoma diagnosis, first hinted at in a family statement last September. The 47-year-old described the inoperable tumor—spreading like 'a monster with tentacles across the underside of my brain the width of a baseball'—and his aggressive treatment regimen, including Avastin, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy pursued in Singapore.
Collins traced symptoms to shortly after his May marriage to his husband, including memory lapses that led him to miss a flight—jokingly calling himself an 'NBA player's version of Dory from Finding Nemo.' He emphasized optimism: 'If that's all the time I have left, I'd rather spend it trying a course of treatment that might one day be a new standard of care for everyone.'
Mirroring his 2013 coming out as the NBA's first openly gay active player—which earned him a spot on Time's 100 most influential people list—Collins drew strength from authenticity. 'The years since coming out have been the best of my life. Your life is so much better when you just show up as your true self,' he wrote, adding that living openly helped others, as he hopes now with his diagnosis.
'As an athlete you learn not to panic,' Collins reflected, comparing the fight to 'shut up and go play against Shaq.' Supported by family, he remains determined amid the disease's grim average prognosis of 11-14 months.