Jason Collins has come out as gay

[Deivy202]

I think the Wiz will resign Collins. If he wants a future in advocacy, he can make connections in the politcal arena. Moreover, the coaching staff and management love him, and he'd be a good mentor to a young big we draft with our pick.

Dude stop putting favoritism into this. Hes a nice mature adult thats fine but if you want a mentor big man you already have Okefor and Nene-Ne for that who are much better than Collins.

[Deeptu McPullup]

actually there is another long time poster on our board who I have figured
was gay although I can't remember any explicit mention of it. S/he is one
of my more favorite posters with a Oscar Wilde like wit.

Did you just out Deivy202?

[montestewart]

Elsewhere on RealGM (you have to know where to look, the subject's been a little ghettoized) there quite a lively (if by lively, I mean insane) discussion going on about this same subject. Lots of No-Bell Prize winners, but this excerpt stood out for me:

First, one more time, that's based on rabbinic decree by Orthodox Jewish rabbis' interpretations of the talmud and tanakh. Outside of rabbinic decree, there is no official Jewish canon written out "GAYS SHOULD KILL THEMSELVES", a view that I consider not just objectionable but utterly detestable, and would be held by only a very tiny minority of American Jews. Outside of the Talmud, as far as I'm aware, the closest you get to a ban on homosexuality in the Tanakh is a few places where the death penalty is set out for metaphorical references to what is in modern times considered to be some forms of male-on-male sodomy, so it is quite possible to hold different interpretations than what Orthodox rabbis have decided upon even if you do decide to take the Tanakh and Talmud as literal and absolute. Because all Jewish law is open to interpretation, there are in fact a variety of opinions on the issue of sexual orientation among Conservative rabbis. In addition, Reform Jews do not hold the wording of the Tanakh and Talmud to have a literal and absolute and immutable grip on all modern practices, so within the Reform movement, acceptance of homosexuality is generally thought to be both acceptable and desirable within the context of applying ancient traditions to a modern liberalized society. The interpretation you have brought forth is not even close to a universally held belief among Jews, and is in fact probably a tiny minority opinion outside the most conservative members of the Orthodox movement. In fact, recognition and marrying of same-sex couples is mainstream within the Reform movement and not prohibited within the Conservative movement. I'm not sure if you're Jewish or not, but you show a fundamental theological misunderstanding of the mechanism by which Jewish laws are interpreted, decreed, and enforced.

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=1247861&start=195

I kept thinking it would work in "elite" or "bowlegged" or something.

PS: Nivek, you mean 8 of 20, right? And Delvy, who's Nene-Ne? Sounds like a 50s revival band.

[Nivek]

Yeah. 12 of the 20 did NOT play another season.

Need to go back and edit that one.

[WizardsWorld]

We're gonna work out a deal with Stern where we promise him we'll resign Jason Collins, so he'll be in the league next year... if he guarantees us a top 3 pick in the draft. It's coming !!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think the Wiz will resign Collins. If he wants a future in advocacy, he can make connections in the politcal arena. Moreover, the coaching staff and management love him, and he'd be a good mentor to a young big we draft with our pick.

I think you are right and this bothers me. Collins is not as Earl Barron as far as I am concerned. Making a champion of him is different because he is a well-below-average player. He's had a long run in the league.

Count me as a cynic of which Nivek posted earlier. My first thought when Collins came out was now he's a Wizard for years to come.

I am happy for Jason Collins and think no one should have to live a lie. I just wish his last team was not the Wizards. Wittman likes him on the court and think that is an affront to players this team burned draft picks on.

[fishercob]

Mike Lee has already reported that Collins was not in the Wiz's plans before his announcement, nor is he in their plans now.

[nate33]

If Collins is retained, I'll just think of it as him being an extra assistant coach. He'll only play after Okafor, Nene and Seraphin have played all the minutes they can handle, so I'm not worried about it.

And if it means we get the #3 pick, I'm all for it.

[BruceO]

1. Reveal to your twin brother that you're gay.
2. Get traded to the Wizards.
3. Announce to the world that you're gay
4. Get rich.

I'm pretty sure it happened just like that. Great plan!

a couple things to add to the discussion. It's good its a none story..may end up being one once he's in a locker room next year but players will treat him well cause they won't want to appear homophobic.

we thought he sucked ( basketballwise lol) and should be off the team..why should that change now. I still want a productive player..if he was gay and productive i'd still want him on.

He may have came out to his family years ago and his telling of the events is media spin. Was reading mediatakeout ( yeah i know) and they reported in 2006 that a member of new jersey nets was gay and has come out to his family and they'll tell who. His reps shut down that story and everyone thought its richard jefferson anyway cause he and luke walton seem to be having this thing for years.. they own homes together around california..take vacations together etc. So apparently its a known thing even among the basketball groupies.

so i think there's stigma involved among players who plan to be there for a while

[hands11]

I wonder if Nate Silver's list of 18 players included anybody with such staggeringly bad numbers as Collins. I mean, seriously, his PER is 3.0 and his ORtg is 91 despite the lowest usage rate I've ever seen (7.5%). He may have started 9 games, but he played a grand total of just 384 minutes all season.

If Collins doesn't get a job next year, it'll be a HUGE stretch to blame it on his sexual orientation.

I figured he was done before he came out so nothing has changed because he has.

[dangermouse]

[AFM]

I laughed.

[fishercob]

.

[AFM]

What kind of a bump was that?

[fishercob]

an unintentional one