NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Nets reportedly considering signing Jason Collins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Free-agent center Jason Collins worked out for the Brooklyn Nets this week in Los Angeles, and the Nets are strongly considering signing Collins to a 10-day contract, ESPN.com reported.
If Collins is signed, he would become the NBA’s first active openly gay player.
Collins, 35, has not played in an NBA game since April 17, 2013, when he was playing for the Washington Wizards. He played in 38 games that season for the Wizards and Boston Celtics, averaging 1.1 points.
Collins made a historic announcement about his sexual orientation to Sports Illustrated in April 2013, in a story that ran in the magazine’s May 6 issue.
No team has signed him since. He auditioned for the Detroit Pistons in August, but no team has invited him to training camp until now.
He could become the first openly gay athlete to play in any of North America’s four traditional major team sports.
— Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook will play in Thursday’s game against the Miami Heat, the team announced several hours before tipoff.
Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee.
—Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left tibia and will be out the rest of the season, the team announced.
McGee averaged 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in five games this season. In six seasons with the Nuggets and Washington Wizards, he has averaged 8.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots.
— An MRI performed on Minnesota Timberwolves center Ronny Turiaf revealed that he suffered a right knee bone bruise that will sideline him indefinitely, the team announced.
Turiaf has appeared in 23 games this season, including 10 starts, and is averaging 4.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 20.9 minutes per game.
— Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, the team announced.
Billups will begin rehabilitation immediately and will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks.
Billups, 37, is averaging 3.8 points in 19 games this season.
