The big basketball news of the week continues to be veteran NBA center Jason Collins coming out as the first openly gay professional athlete in the four major American sports. As you would expect with news of this magnitude, Collins is now a highly sought after man for interviews and George Stephanopoulos for Good Morning America was first in line. The entire interview was pretty informative and among the many topics they discussed. Collins’ choice for wearing number 98 this past season was one of the most interesting discussion points.
“Jersey 98 for Matthew Shepherd and also for The Trevor Project. And they were formed in 1998. So for those two significant events in my mind — in history of America, period. That’s why I wore jersey 98. And also to mess with the refs, because I do have a tendency to foul a lot. But– no. But– no, but the primary reason was, every time I put on that jersey I was already making that statement to myself — and to my family.”
Matthew Shepherd was a victim of a hate crime in 1998 and the Trevor Project is an organization that prevents suicide Among LGBTQ Youth. Check out the entire interview below.
Here is a link to the interview transcript.
