Collins' legacy is being framed as one of courage and inspiration—his family highlighting how he 'changed lives in unexpected ways' while maintaining grace through an eight-month battle with stage IV glioblastoma. The focus remains on his groundbreaking status as the NBA's first openly gay player and his role as a mentor to his niece and nephews.
Sources close to Collins reveal he sought treatment in Singapore in his final months, suggesting he pursued aggressive international options after domestic treatments proved insufficient. His December 2025 ESPN essay—which dropped just weeks before his death—offered a remarkably candid look at living with terminal diagnosis while still championing visibility for LGBTQ athletes.
Death certificate obtained by Us Weekly confirms Collins died May 12, 2026, at age 47 from respiratory failure. The certificate lists three contributing conditions: pulmonary embolism (blood clot), hydrocephalus (fluid buildup in brain), and glioblastoma—the aggressive brain cancer diagnosed in November 2025. His body was cremated May 15 with remains entrusted to husband Brunson Green in Texas.
Collins' death marks the end of a historic run—from breaking the NBA's biggest closet door wide open in 2013 to facing mortality with the same transparency that defined his career. His December 2025 essay proved he never stopped playing offense, even when the game was already decided.
Jason Collins, the center who shattered the NBA's most stubborn glass ceiling by becoming the league's first openly gay player in 2013, has died at age 47 after a valiant eight-month fight with glioblastoma. The death certificate obtained exclusively by Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 19, reveals the grim medical cascade that ultimately claimed his life: respiratory failure as the immediate cause, with pulmonary embolism, hydrocephalus, and his previously disclosed brain cancer all listed as contributing factors.
The diagnosis came in November 2025 when doctors identified stage IV glioblastoma—the same aggressive malignancy that claimed Senator John McCain's life in 2018. Collins wasted no time confronting his mortality head-on, traveling to Singapore for treatment before the year was out. In a December 2025 essay published by ESPN, he offered readers an uncommonly candid window into his mindset: "When I chose to come out, there was no scandal or anything," he wrote.
"This was like, I feel that I am good enough to play in the NBA and by the way, I'm gay. Just so everyone knows cards on the table, this is where I am." Even facing terminal illness, Collins maintained the same directness that made his 2013 Sports Illustrated coming-out story a cultural watershed moment. Collins' family confirmed his passing in a May 12 statement delivered to the NBA, describing him as "our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle" who "changed lives in unexpected ways." The message emphasized gratitude for the medical care he received and the outpouring of support during his illness.
His remains were cremated on May 15—three days after his death—and are now with his husband Brunson Green in Texas. Collins married Green just one year earlier, in May 2025, cementing a partnership that would be tested by diagnosis within months. The tributes poured in from unexpected corners of American public life.
Chelsea Clinton took to X on May 13 to mourn "my beloved friend Jason Collins," calling him "a trailblazer whose courage changed lives" and "a kind, thoughtful friend who could always make me laugh." Meanwhile, his sister-in-law Elsa Collins shared a pre-Thanksgiving Instagram Story video—recorded before he departed for Singapore treatment—that captured the family's emotional farewell. Addressing Jason directly at what would become one of their final gatherings, she thanked him for mentoring her children with Jarron Collins (Jason's twin brother), saying: "I know your role as the amazing Tio Jason cannot be described to a level that it really means." Collins' 13-year NBA career spanned seven franchises—New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets—but his most significant achievement came after he stopped playing.
When he sat down with Sports Illustrated editor Jon Wertheim in April 2013 for a cover story that declared "I am a gay man," there was no guarantee it wouldn't end his career. Teams quietly distanced themselves. General managers stopped returning calls.
Yet Collins never wavered, eventually earning a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets in February 2014—partly to honor a commitment he'd made to appear on an episode of "Sofia Coppola's" Young Hollywood quiz show before his diagnosis intervened. His final NBA appearance came that same month at age 35, a quiet epilogue to a career that mattered far more for what it represented than any statistics it produced.
