Former NBA player Jason Collins, who openly came out as gay in April of 2013, has married his longtime partner Brunson Green.
The couple got married this past weekend in Austin, Texas. Collins posted well wishes from others and pictures from the wedding on his Instagram story.
Jason Collins and Brunson Green have been together since 2014, which is the same year Collins retired from the NBA.
The center played professional basketball from 2001-14, becoming the first openly gay NBA player to appear in a game when he did so in 2014.
Collins was hopeful that after coming out as gay he would encourage other professional athletes to do so. However, according to Uncloseted Media, there are currently zero openly gay players in the four major professional sports in the United States.
Collins believes there is plenty of work still to do to change how gay athletes are viewed.
“It’s still the case because there are people who are, for whatever reason, have fear to step forward and speak their truth," Jason Collins told Uncloseted Media. “[It’s on] the sports leagues and sports franchises to celebrate the LGBT+ community, whether it’s participating in pride parades, marches, or hosting pride games.
“In this climate that we’re in where there’s such an attack on DEI, it’s important to speak to your values and speak to your community of people who do support -- your franchises, your athletes.”
Brunson Green, who reportedly got engaged to Collins in 2023, is a film producer who most notably produced The Help.
According to The Independent, Jason Collins told Sports Illustrated that he met Brunson Green at a housewarming party in 2014.
"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?’”
More than a decade later, the two are now married.