Jason Collins, the former NBA center and trailblazer who became the first active, openly gay player in league history, has shared the deeply personal story of his diagnosis with Stage 4 glioblastoma (GBM), one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer.
Collins acknowledged that the initial statement released by his family months ago was “intentionally vague” to protect his privacy as his loved ones grappled with the severe diagnosis. Now, the 47-year-old athlete has chosen to speak directly, confirming: “I have Stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer. It came on incredibly fast.”
The Rapid Onset and The Wedding Contrast
The diagnosis came shortly after one of the happiest moments of his life. Collins had married the “love of my life, Brunson Green,” in a perfect ceremony in Austin, Texas, in May 2025.
Just three months later, the initial signs of the aggressive illness appeared:
“In August, we were supposed to go to the US Open… but when the car came to take us to the airport, I was nowhere near ready. And for the first time in decades, we missed the flight because I couldn’t stay focused to pack.”
Collins, adhering to his lifelong athlete’s mindset, initially tried to push through the symptoms, believing he was simply suffering from fatigue.
The Urgent Discovery and The Multiforme Monster
The moment of diagnosis was swift and chilling. A CT scan at UCLA lasted only five minutes before the technician rushed him to a specialist, confirming Collins’s own fear that “Something was really wrong.”
According to his family, his mental deterioration was rapid: “In hours, my mental clarity, short-term memory and comprehension disappeared—turning into an NBA player’s version of ‘Dory’ from Finding Nemo.”
Further tests revealed the tumor’s severity and nature:
- Location and Aggressiveness: Glioblastoma grows in the finite space of the skull. Collins’s tumor is “multiforme,” which he chillingly described as being “like a monster with tentacles spreading across the underside of my brain the width of a baseball.”
- Difficulty in Treatment: The tumor’s location, encroaching upon the frontal lobe—the part of the brain that governs personality and identity—makes it extremely difficult to treat with standard procedures.
