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"History is being made tonight! Jason Collins&amp;#xA0;signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets basketball team on Feb. 23. The openly-gay athlete will take the court against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center Sunday night, a source confirms to Us Weekly.&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nCollins, 35, will be the first openly-gay NBA player and ESPN reports that he is also the first openly-gay athlete in North America&amp;apos;s four major professional sports.\r\n\r\nThe Brooklyn Nets&amp;apos; official Twitter handle shared a photo of Collins signing his contracts, writing, &amp;quot;RT to welcome @jasoncollins34 to Brooklyn! #Nets.&amp;quot;\r\nThe center came out in an essay in the April 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated.&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I didn&amp;apos;t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport,&amp;quot; he wrote at the time. &amp;quot;But since I am, I&amp;apos;m happy to start the conversation.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jason-collins-to-sign-with-brooklyn-nets-first-openly-gay-nba-player-2014232>