One-time Harvard-Westlake Basketball Star Loses Battle with Brain Cancer

Long-time NBA star led California power to 123 wins in his prep career.

Long-time NBA player Jason Collins, who starred for Harvard-Westlake High School during his high school career, has passed at the age of 47 after a long battle with brain cancer. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Jason Collins, who along with his twin brother Jarron, helped lead Harvard-Westlake to a pair of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state titles in boys basketball has died at the age of 47. He had battled glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

The NBA and the Collins family made the announcement on Tuesday.

Leading a California High School Basketball Powerhouse

Harvard-Westlake posted a sensational 123-10 record while Collins was in the program (1994-97) and finished with 1,500 rebounds, then the fourth-highest total in California history. In addition to the Collins twins, actor Jason Segel was a member of those Wolverines squads.

Collins capped his high school career by playing in the 1997 McDonald’s All-American Game.

From Stanford to the NBA

He played his college basketball at Stanford where he earned All-Pac 10 and All-American honors before becoming a first-round NBA draft pick of the Houston Rockets in 2001. Collins was immediately traded to the New Jersey Nets where he played parts of nine seasons. He would go on to play 14 seasons in the NBA, including stints with the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and, finally, the Brooklyn Nets.

Collins finished his professional career with 2,621 points, 2,706 rebounds and 626 assists. Although not known for his scoring as a professional, Collins was valued for his work as a defender and team leader.

A Historic Revelation in SI

In the May 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated, Collins wrote a cover story with journalist Franz Lidz, in which he came out as gay, becoming the first openly gay active player in NBA history. In fact, he was the first active athlete in any of the four major American professional sports league – NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB – to publicly come out as gay.

Collins received public support from many fellow NBA players, including the late Kobe Bryant. Praise also came from then NBA Commissioner David Stern, as well as Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. The story was released on the SI.com website on April 29, 2013, drawing 3.7 million visitors.

In 2009, Collins broke off a relationship with former WNBA player Carolyn Moss and, shortly after his revelation in SI, he entered into a relationship with film producer Brunson Green, who he married in 2025.

In September of last year, the NBA released a statement, on behalf of Collins and his family, revealing that the former player was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. In December, Collins provided additional information, revealing that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma.