Vicious Rants of an Angry Yellow Man

I have just finished reading Jason Collin's article in SI.  I applaud him for coming out but I don't agree with some people who compare him with Jackie Robinson.  When Robinson came to the Majors there was not much movement in the areas of civil rights.  Even some of his teammates were against him.  I think the gay right movement is much further along now and judging by the response Collins have received, I don't think he will face challenges anywhere near what Robinson faced during his time.  That is not to say that he won't be heckled by fans.  Jeremy Lin was heckled even during Ivy League games and those fans are affiliated with some of the greatest institutions of higher education in this country.  But Collins will not be bothered in the locker room or by opponents.  Ironically everyone who has come out against him (and there are very few), has been attacked themselves in the court of public opinion.  Take Chris Broussard of ESPN.  He gave his opinion that as a religious person, he is against gay life style.  He was immediately attacked.  While I don't agree with him, he has the right to what he believes.  If you only have to listen to opinions that is agreeable to you, then you are not living in a democratic society.

Even though Collins is technically an active player in the NBA, he is at or near the end of his career.  In fact, if this article did not come out, the chances of him of getting a contract next year is slim.  So I don't think he will be hurt in terms of staying in the league by coming out.  I don't think you can accuse any team of prejudice for not signing Collins for next season.  It will be more interesting when a player near the peak of his career come out and is a free agent.  Then we will know what teams think.  I bet that most team will act depending more of that player's ability than sexual orientation.

It is interesting that Jason's identical twin Jarron is not gay.  Obviously having identical DNA does not mean same personality.  On the other hand environment do not determine personality either as both Jason and Jarron grew up in the same household, went to the same high school and college.  So who knows what really make up who we are.  Interesting enough of the 4 sets of identical twins I know of in NBA, the skills of 3 sets of twins are about the same.  Tom and Dick Van Arsdale, the Morris twins of Phoenix Suns and Jason and Jarron Collins are all about same in style and skill as each person's twin.  Only Brooke and Robin Lopez are somewhat different with Brooke being a better offensive and overall player whereas Robin is better on defense.  But given that Brooke and Robin have big difference in hairstyle whereas the other 3 sets of twins look exactly the same, I conclude that hairstyle is the ultimate determining factor in skills of NBA twins.