President Barack Obama said he is "very proud" of Jason Collins for coming out as gay, the first still-playing male athlete in the four major American team sports to do so. Obama is 6'1" (1.85m) himself.

7'0" (2.13m) Jason Paul Collins (born 1978) is a retired American professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Stanford University where he was an All-American in 2000–01, before being drafted 18th overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. He went on to play for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets.

After the 2012–13 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay. He became a free agent and did not play again until February 2014, when he signed with the Nets and became the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of four major North American pro sports leagues. In April 2014, Collins featured on the cover of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World."