The Brooklyn Nets have an additional roster spot and have been surveying the market. One of the available players they’ve shown interest in is Jason Collins. Collins is now most famously known for coming out as the first active gay player in an interview with Sports Illustrated. He’s been unemployed and some people think it’s because players can’t handle being around a gay player in close quarters while others think it’ll be too much of a distraction surrounding the team; Nets star Deron Williams seems to be in the latter part of that group.
via Newsday:
“I think it’s definitely going to be a media circus just because of the situation,” Williams said. “It’d be a historic day and so we definitely have to deal with that. But I think with the type of team that we have, veterans who have played with him before and know him, it shouldn’t be a problem.” …
“It’s not him being a distraction,” Williams said. “It’s just the media coming along with it, because every city you go to, it’s not just like you answer a question once and then it’s over with. It’s a recurring thing. But like I said, I don’t think it would be a problem for us.”
The Nets seem accepting of adding Collins but Williams is correct in the assertion that it would attract a lot of media attention. He’s not even signed yet and it’s already a big discussion plus the Nets are in one of the largest media markets.
Sidenote: In my opinion the reason Collins isn’t signed yet is because he’s not very good… If anything him getting signed would be great to show that a homosexual player isn’t a problem.
