CHICAGO — When he awoke on the morning of April 29, 2013, Jason Collins didn’t quite grasp the magnitude of what he was about to do. The story was already told, written, ready for publication at 11:30 a.m. ET. It would change Collins’ life, because it would allow him to live authentically. But the broader implications of becoming the first active player in America’s three major pro sports leagues to come out publicly?
“I didn’t think about it in a bigger perspective until that morning, when I got back-to-back calls from Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama,” Collins says with a laugh.