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Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player, has married his long-time partner Brunson Green.
Over the weekend, Collins tied the knot with The Help producer in a ceremony that took place in Austin, Texas. To commemorate the occasion, the now-retired basketball player re-posted various photos from his wedding on his Instagram Story.
Collins had been dating Green since 2014, shortly after he announced his retirement from the NBA. While he has mostly remained private about his dating life, in a Sports Illustrated interview in 2023, he revealed how he met Green at a housewarming party.
“I was dating another guy at the time. I didn’t see Brunson again until we ran into each other at a party three months later. By that point, I was single again,” he told the publication at the time. “Brunson left for Europe the following day, and, while he was overseas, I asked everyone I knew in LA, ‘Have you heard of this guy?’”
The couple reportedly got engaged in 2023 at the Los Angeles Lakers Pride Night.
Collins first came out in a personal essay written for Sports Illustrated in 2013. The essay at the time made him the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport.
“When I was younger, I dated women,” he wrote at the time. “I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.”
Collins began his career with the New Jersey Nets in 2001 and rejoined the now Brooklyn-based franchise, the Brooklyn Nets, in 2014 after stints with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Boston Celtics, and the Washington Wizards.
Following his season with the Brooklyn Nets, he announced his retirement in an essay written for The Players’ Tribune. “I am officially announcing my retirement from the NBA,” he said.
“As we speak, I’m watching a college basketball game, but it’s time for me to truly become just a fan and watch from the sidelines.”
He continued: “My body was talking to me, my body was telling me that it was time. I think as older generations can understand that when you wake up in the morning and it feel likes starting an old car.
“My lower back, my knees, it was one of those things that my body was letting me know as it does with so many other professional athletes.”
