For years, NBA journeyman Jason Collins quietly wore No. 98.
On Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, during his third game as the first athlete in a major North American sport to come out as gay, the number 98 shouted.
Collins wears the number in memory of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student slain in Wyoming in 1998.
On Thursday night, Collins played in front of Matthew’s parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard of Casper, whom the center was scheduled to meet after the game between his Brooklyn Nets and the Denver Nuggets.
“I am very honored,” Collins said of Dennis Shepard’s remark this week that Matthew would have loved Collins. “I am looking forward to first getting through this game and meeting with them after.”
The NBA announced this week that Collins’ jersey temporarily became the league’s biggest-selling one after his signing Sunday.
Collins, 35, said before Thursday’s game that the significance of such popularity runs deep for him.
“I think it’s a tribute to Matthew Shepard and also the year 1998,” he said. “The year 1998 has a lot of significance to me and obviously a lot of other people.”
Collins was in college when he heard of 21-year-old Matthew’s slaying.
“It was a tragedy,” he said.
The meeting between the family and the man who has been quietly honoring their son since he entered the league wasn’t planned, he said.
“It just happened,” he said. “It’s one of the cool treats in life.”
The Shepard family met with Collins for about 15 minutes after the game.
“(Collins) is very kind, smart and humble. It was delightful” meeting him, said Judy Shepard.
Before leaving, Collins gave the Shepard family his No. 98 jersey.
“It was very cool,” Judy Shepard said. “Very kind and thoughtful.”
Collins wore No. 98 with both the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards for Shepard even before coming out.
His No. 98 Nets jersey wasn’t yet ready for Sunday night’s game against the Lakers, but he wore the number in the team’s game against the Portland TrailBlazers on Wednesday.
Collins said fan appreciation and support have been evident since his announcement last spring and his return to the NBA on Sunday.
“Fans on the road have been very receptive when I go into the game,” he said.
Still, he said, his sole focus is on his job.
“I don’t know what to expect (in terms of reaction),” he said. “I can only control myself.”
While the media attention on Collins has been immense since his announcement, he said the crowd of reporters has already begun to shrink.
“I do foresee a day when it’ll be just about the basketball,” he said. “It’s great as a society that we’re moving, at least in the sports world, to a place where all of us can be our true, authentic selves.”
Collins on Sunday became the first active player to come out as gay in North America’s four major pro sports when he signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, who played that night in Los Angeles.
He came out in an April interview with Sports Illustrated. Until this week, he had not played in the NBA since his announcement, last playing with the Wizards in 2013. He began his career in the NBA with the Nets in 2001.
“I am always encouraging others to live their own authentic life. Speak up, and come forward,” Collins said of the possibility of other NBA players coming out as gay.
Michael Sam, a defensive end from the University of Missouri, announced he was gay after the college season and is hoping to make an NFL team this fall.
Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was attacked near Laramie on the night of Oct. 6, 1998. He was tied to a fence and left to die. He died six days later from head injuries at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins.
Because of the late start of Thursday’s game, Collins and the Shepards hadn’t yet met when The Denver Post went to press. Earlier this week, Judy Shepard told the New York Daily News that she hoped they would cross paths.
“I’d tell him thank you and give him a big hug. I have not met him, but everyone I know that has (met him) has said he’s a gentleman, kind and generous,” she said. “I’d like very much to thank him and congratulate him.”
Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409, rparker@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ryanparkerdp
