Los Angeles, 13 December (H.S.) Former NBA center Jason Collins, the first active male athlete in a major American team sport to come out as gay, has revealed that he is battling stage four glioblastoma, an aggressive and inoperable form of brain cancer. Collins disclosed his diagnosis in a personal article for ESPN, explaining that he is undergoing intensive treatment designed to slow the spread of the tumour rather than remove it surgically.

Collins, 47, wrote that doctors warned he could have survived only a few months without treatment, describing the tumour as “a monster with tentacles” stretching across the underside of his brain.He said his current regimen includes the drug Avastin and a targeted chemotherapy protocol in Singapore that aims to attack cancer cells past the blood–brain barrier.

The former Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics center recounted that the cancer was discovered after alarming problems with concentration and memory, including missing a flight shortly after marrying his husband because he was unable to pack his bags.

A subsequent brain scan exposed the tumour, and he later joked that his failing short‑term memory turned him into an NBA version of Dory, the forgetful fish from the film Finding Nemo.

Collins compared the emotional weight of going public with his diagnosis to the pressure he felt before coming out as gay during his playing career, saying that confronting the disease demands the same refusal to panic he learned on the court.

He likened the fight against glioblastoma to guarding Shaquille O’Neal in his prime, calling it the ultimate challenge he now intends to meet with the same competitive resolve.

The California native, who played 13 seasons for six NBA teams and was once named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people, said he hopes his openness about cancer can help others just as his decision to live openly as a gay athlete did.

Collins wrote that if his search for cutting‑edge treatments advances care for even one future patient, then his struggle will carry a wider purpose beyond his own prognosis.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar