On this day in Boston Celtics history, big man Jason Paul Collins was born in Los Angeles, California back in 1978. Collins played collegiately with the Stanford University Cardinal, with whom he earned NABC Third Team All-American and First Team All-PAC 10 honors in 2001.
He was drafted 18th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2001 NBA draft but was immediately traded with Brandon Armstrong and Richard Jefferson to the (then) New Jersey Nets for Eddie Griffin. Collins played stints with that team, the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Atlanta Hawks before he signed with the Celtics as a free agent in 2012.
The Californian played 32 games with Boston before he was dealt to the Washington Wizards with Leandro Barbosa for Jordan Crawford, having averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game with the team.
Soon after the season ended, Collins came out as gay, becoming the first athlete in any of North America’s four major sports to play as such.
Collins’ decision to do so helped to change problematic attitudes toward LGBTQ folk in sports as a result.
Ad from 1946 newspaper, offering free nylons to fans who attend the Toronto Huskies-Pittsburgh Ironmen game: pic.twitter.com/oSSmYBMW8F
— SI Vault (@si_vault) March 26, 2014
It is also the date of one of the lowest scoring games in NBA history, a 46-44 win over the (now defunct) Pittsburgh Ironmen.
The game was the Celtics’ third-lowest score in franchise history and an opponent’s third-lowest scoring game as well.
Finally, it is also the date that the Celtics waived forward Sly Williams in 1985. An alum of the University of Rhode Island, Williams was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1979 and played for them and the Atlanta Hawks before joining Boston in 1985.
He did not last the year, alas.
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