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Multiple reports have surfaced that the Nets plan to sign Jason Collins for the rest of the season once his second ten-day contract expires. The report was originally made by ESPN.
This was destined to happen from the start. The Nets signed Collins in the hopes that he’d fill the role of the five-minute big to spell Andray Blatche, Kevin Garnett, and Mason Plumlee for brief stretches and play post defense on the interior. There were real basketball reasons the Nets gave for signing Collins; for one, having an extra big man gives them insurance for Kevin Garnett, who doesn’t often play back-to-backs and will miss his seventh straight game tonight. The Nets have five more back-to-backs before the end of the season, increasing the need for an insurance big man.
There’s also the historical implications of being not just the first team to sign a gay player in NBA history, but the first team to cut a gay player in NBA history. Not sure anyone wants that on their resume. (I’m half-joking.)
Collins’s presence has caused no rifts in the locker room, and according to Collins himself, not one player in the league has caused him any issues for his sexuality. He’s, at this point, nothing more than an end-of-the-bench man who fouls a lot, defends DeMarcus Cousins in the post as well as anyone on the team, and buys stuff at Costco.
