his twin brother jarron collins also played in the nba. on april 29, 2013, collins wrote the cover story of sports illustrated in which he publicly come out as gay. he became the first active male professional athlete in any of the four major north american pro sports leagues to come out. he said that he chose the jersey number 98 in honor of matthew shepard, a victim of a gay hate crime in 1998. collins said that the number was "a statement to myself, my family and my friends".