Veteran basketball player Jason Collins announced on Monday he is gay, making him the first openly-homosexual athlete in a major American sport.
The NBA centre made the disclosure in a column in Sports Illustrated magazine, writing that he felt obliged to be honest with himself and the public.
''I'm black and I'm gay," he wrote.
The ABC reports Collins, 34, has played in the NBA for 12 seasons with six teams, spending this past campaign with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
He helped the New Jersey Nets reach the 2002 and 2003 NBA Finals.
