Jason Collins signed a 10 day contract with the NJ Nets and has chosen to wear number 98 in honor of a gay youth named Matthew Shepard that was killed in a horrible hate crime 1998. Since JC declared he was a gay american he has repeatedly stated he wants to be judged in the NBA by his play on the court. He also stated he did not want his sexuality be a distraction to himself or his team. So why would he choose 98? A number worn by two other players in the history of the ABA/NBA and one of those was in 1947? This adds one more layer of potential questions to be asked of him, which since he is a smart guy he will answer correctly. It will also add to the potentially explosive topics asked every day of his teammates who most I am sure have never heard of Matthew Shepard. Every NJ Net, including the head coach except Pierce and Garnett were under 17 when Matthew Shepard was killed. Most have never heard of Mathew Shepard. Now every player will be asked repeatedly another list of questions that if answered incorrectly can cause anywhere between a minor media flare up and a nuclear explosion. Jason is a marginally talented NBA journeyman . By all accounts he is a good citizen and a body, the Nets are extremely short of big men so they gave him a 10 day contract. This initial decision is a poor one. He is exposing the NJ Nets, the only team willing to give him a chance this year to another army of potential problems.
This is the same problem Michael Sam is facing. I think he will drop in the draft some not because NFL GMs care that he is gay. The locker room is only a small part of the potential complications his new team faces. He will drop because these GMs fear the multitude of questions every player on the roster will face virtually every day. All it takes is one of the less then enlightened players to say the wrong thing and the entire team is in a national story that has nothing to do with the 2914 NFL season.
Like I said bad move by Jason Collins I hope it doesn't hurt the team. If I had to guess I would say at least a minor negative story will come out of his jersey choice at some point.