US: Basketball star Jason Collins’ twin says he missed ‘red flags’ signalling that his brother is gay
Appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, recently out gay NBA star Jason Collins and his twin brother Jarron, discussed their brotherly relationship, the latter joking that he missed “red flags” which suggested Jason was gay.
Jason Collins recently spoke about his sexuality, confirming he is gay in an article in Sports Illustrated magazine. He said: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”
In the article Jason said not even his twin brother, also an NBA player, had known he was gay.
“He’s my best friend and any time you come out to someone, you always have that apprehension that they’re going to reject, even though I knew that that wasn’t going to be the case,” Jason Collins said, speaking to Kimmel.
Jason said he would make up excuses for why he was not interested in women his brother and sister-in-law would set him up with, but Jarron said he still never figured out that Jason was gay, reports the Associated Press.
“He’s my twin brother, of course I was going to be supportive of him all the time,” Jarron continued. He said he was supportive, but that he had responded at first asking “are you sure?” and “since when?”
Since appearing on the show, a fan posted a picture of himself and Jarron on Reddit, in which he is wearing the t-shirt. He told Kimmel that he had been approached by men asking if he was Jason.
Despite some abusive messages, Collins received thousands of messages of support, including from President Barack Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, his teammates, coaches, the Commissioner of the NBA, and countless others.
In his first interview since coming out as gay, Collins said he hoped other professional athletes will follow his lead, and he later revealed that he wore the number 98 jersey in a silent gesture of solidarity with the gay community.
