On Monday, NBA center Jason Collins, who played this past season with the Washington Wizards, came out publicly as the first ‘openly gay athlete in a major American team sport.’

Collins’ self-penned piece in Sports Illustrated starting with, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay,” leaving nothing to interpretation.

It was a huge step forward for gay rights as no major sports professional athlete had come out while still being an active athlete.

While Collins has shown great bravery in coming out it has it’s questions as well. He’s technically a free agent at the end of his career:

“Now I’m a free agent, literally and figuratively. I’ve reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful.”

He might never have played another minute in the NBA anyway. He’s old for a NBA player. He’s always been a bench player who received limited minutes of playing time.

However, those facts shouldn’t detract from Collins public statement today. It’s a first, technically, and it won’t be the last by a male professional sports athlete in America.  For the past few weeks there has been rumors of several NFL players coming out.  That will likely happen sooner than later.

It’s a big day for Civil Rights and equality in America. It’s not the biggest step, but it’s another big step for our country, sports, and equality.

Major props to Mr. Jason Collins on his courage, bravery, and penmanship. The article he penned for SI, which you can read HERE, is extremely well written and inspirational. No doubt he’s showing off that impressive Stanford education.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant went down in pain during the late moments of the Lakers home game tonight against the Golden State Warriors.

Team officials and Kobe believe that he tore his achilles. An injury that usually takes a year to recover and recuperate from.

The team will do a MRI on Bryant tomorrow to verify the prognosis. If true then surgery would be next, followed by a lengthy recovery.

The injury could be the end of Kobe’s career. His contract with the Lakers only runs through next year as the team is already trying to put Dwight Howard in place as the team’s next big superstar. (Don’t laugh! It’s their plan not mine!)

However, a dejected Kobe in his post game presser when asked if this was the last of him on a basketball court defiantly stated, “Are you kidding?!?

He went on to add, ”I can hear it already. It’s pissing me off right now thinkin about it.”

If this is the end of the road then he’ll be sorely missed. He is one of the greatest of all-time and one of the toughest warriors to ever lace them up on a NBA court.

NBA Hall-0f-Famer Magic Johnson’s son ‘EJ’ Earvin has formally announced that he is gay according to his father.

Magic and his wife, Cookie, are very supportive and ‘proud’ of their son:

“Cookie and I love EJ and support him in every way. We’re very proud of him”

Best of luck to EJ! Way to have the courage to live your life how you want.

[photo: EJ Johnson with his boyfriend on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles]

Former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson won 11 NBA Championship rings during his coaching career.

Most basketball fans are aware of that, but Phil, who joined Twitter today (@PhilJackson11), came up a bit short of the rim in his first tweet.

The Zen Master tweeted, “11 champ;ipnsikp[ ringhs”

Well then! The tweet made ‘Phil Jackson’ trend and provided much of the sports world with a quick laugh at Phil’s expense.

It will likely go down as one of the most popular tweets in Twitter history when all is said and done.

Scott Sterling, the son of infamous Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, was found dead last night in Malibu of an apparent drug suicide.

Sheriff’s Homicide Detectives were sent to a home on the 22600 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu around 11:30pm last night, where they found the body of Scott Sterling.

Although an overdose is suspected an autopsy will be done to confirm or deny it.

The Clippers have been the hottest and best team in the NBA this season.

Our thoughts go out to the Sterling family.

The 2012 NBA Draft took place on Thursday night. It was one of the more entertaining and fun drafts in a long time. Perhaps since so many collegiate players were taken in the first round.

Here is a look at the results from the 2012 NBA Draft.

Round 1 – 2012 NBA Draft

1. New Orleans Hornets: Anthony Davis
2. Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
3. Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: Dion Waiters
5. Sacramento Kings: Thomas Robinson
6. Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard
7. Golden State Warriors: Harrison Barnes
8. Toronto Raptors: Terrence Ross
9. Detroit Pistons: Andre Drummond
10. New Orleans Hornets: Austin Rivers
11. Portland Trail Blazers: Meyers Leonard
12. Houston Rockets: Jeremy Lamb
13. Phoenix Suns: Kendall Marshall
14. Milwaukee Bucks: John Henson
15. Philadelphia 76ers: Maurice Harkless
16. Houston Rockets: Royce White
17. Dallas Mavericks: Tyler Zeller
18. Houston Rockets: Terrence Jones
19. Orlando Magic: Andrew Nicholson
20. Denver Nuggets: Evan Fournier
21. Boston Celtics: Jared Sullinger
22. Boston Celtics: Fab Melo
23. Atlanta Hawks: John Jenkins
24. Cleveland Cavaliers: Jared Cunningham
25. Memphis Grizzlies: Tony Wroten Jr.
26. Indiana Pacers: Miles Plumlee
27. Miami Heat: Arnett Moultrie
28. Oklahoma City Thunder: Perry Jones
29. Chicago Bulls: Marquis Teague
30. Golden State Warriors: Festus Ezeli

Round 2 – 2012 NBA Draft

31. Charlotte Bobcats: Jeff Taylor
32. Washington Wizards: Tomas Satoransky
33. Cleveland Cavaliers: Bernard James
34. Cleveland Cavaliers: Jae Crowder
35. Golden State Warriors: Draymond Green
36. Sacramento Kings: Orlando Johnson
37. Toronto Raptors: Quincy Acy
38. Denver Nuggets: Quincy Miller
39. Detroit Pistons: Khris Middleton
40. Portland Trail Blazers: Will Barton
41. Portland Trail Blazers: Tyshawn Taylor
42. Milwaukee Bucks: Doron Lamb
43. Atlanta Hawks: Mike Scott
44. Detroit Pistons: Kim English
45. Philadelphia 76ers: Justin Hamilton
46. New Orleans Hornets: Darius Miller
47. Utah Jazz: Kevin Murphy
48. New York Knicks: Kostas Papanikolaou
49. Orlando Magic: Kyle O’Quinn
50. Denver Nuggets: Izzet Turkyilmaz
51. Boston Celtics: Kris Joseph
52. Golden State Warriors: Ognjen Kuzmic
53. Los Angeles Clippers: Furkan Aldemir
54. Philadelphia 76ers: Tornike Shengelia
55. Dallas Mavericks: Darius Johnson-Odom
56. Toronto Raptors: Tomislav Zubcic
57. Brooklyn Nets: Ilkan Karaman
58. Minn. Timberwolves: Robbie Hummel
59. San Antonio Spurs: Marcus Denmon
60. Los Angeles Lakers: Robert Sacre

—–

During Sunday’s NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder we were reminded of how vile and violent Lakers power forward Ron ‘Metta World Peace’ Artest can be in life and on a basketball court.

It all happened in the second quarter, right before half time when World Peace dunked on Serge Ibaka on a fast break. MWP then pumped his chest and delivered a nasty elbow to the head of Thunder small forward James Harden.

The disgusting act is one of the worst acts of physical violence in the NBA in quite some time.  MWP was ejected from the game and will likely be suspended from the NBA. Harden laid motionless on the court for several moments after the play.

Artest caused the ‘Melee in the Palace’ several years ago when he rushed into the stands to attack a fan that he thought had thrown a beer on him while he  was laid out on the scorer’s table. Artest was suspended for the rest of that season.

Los Angeles Clippers All-Star point guard Chris Paul has bought punk rocker Avril Lavigne’s Bel Air mansion.

Avril listed the home last May for $9.5 million. Paul likely paid less than the listing price for the house.

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul just spent some of his $68 million contract on a mansion in Bel Air. The home belonged to pop singer Avril Lavigne who listed it after separating from husband Deryck Whibley of the band Sum 41.

The Southern California mansion is 12,184 square feet and includes eight bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms. The Mediterranean-style house features a wine cellar, a 10-car garage, and a gym with a sauna. There is also a covered outdoor living room the opens up to the swimming pool, jacuzzi, and BBQ. The home has made the rounds in Hollywood, as Lavigne bought the home in 2007 from Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and his wife. The home was featured in the TV show, Meet the Barkers.

Congrats to Chris on his new city and digs!

See More Photos HERE at Realtor.com

NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire’s brother, Hazell Stoudemire, tragically died in a car accident on Route 27 in Lake Wales, Florida on Monday morning (February 6). Hazell, who was only 35 years old, was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the NBA player’s brother was driving at a “high rate of speed” and was not wearing a seat belt when he collided with the rear of a tractor trailer and smashed his car into the big rig. It’s still unclear if alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Amar’e and his family.

R.I.P. Hazell Stoudemire.

[image: PNP/wenn.com]

The dunk of the year tonight in the NBA by the Los Angeles Clippers Blake Griffin over Oklahoma City Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins.

Multiple angles and views in the video above as Griffin soared over the rim to dunk over Perkins as he was fouled hard. Nice pick and roll by Chris Paul dishing the ball down to Griffin for the powerful tomahawk dunk.

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all-time and a 6-time NBA Champion with the Chicago Bulls, is engaged to his longtime girlfriend-model Yvette Prieto according to Yahoo!

The NBA legend is reportedly engaged to longtime girlfriend and Cuban-born model Yvette Prieto. The couple has been dating for more than three years.

A Jordan spokeswoman first confirmed the news to WCNC in Charlotte, NC, that he popped the question on Christmas. Prieto is 32 years old, while Jordan is 48.

Jordan divorced his first wife, Juanita Jordan, five years ago to the day of his proposal to Yvette.  Jordan has two adult sons from his first marriage, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James Jordan. Juanita took home $168 million from the divorce.

Michael Jordan’s Girlfriend Yvette Prieto Pregnant?

Jordan is the current owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. However, he has been known more for his partying since retiring than success as an NBA General Manager or owner.

Michael Jordan’s Smoking Hot Girlfriend (Wife to Be)

Jordan is pictured above with Yvette and his likely best man, Charles Oakley.

Best of luck to the happy couple!

Comedy Central funnyman, Dave Chappelle, phoned in a recent charity performance in Miami – literally.

According to reports, the former Chappelle Show star who was appearing at a charity event put on by NBA great Alonzo Mourning, seemed more interested in checking his text messages than telling jokes.  CNN reporter Roland S. Martin was in attendance at the event for Mourning’s youth charity and chronicled the entire debacle.

[Chapelle]‘s spent more time going back & forth with one audience member, & pretty much stopped telling jokes … He got texted four times during his show and actually checked them … He’s just staring at the crowd & sighing … He’s been on stage 46 minutes & told one joke.

C’mon Dave!  I know you’re not making any money for this show, but at least pretend like you want to be there!

Apparently, Chappelle was more than a little peeved after a fan decided to heckle him during the show and retaliated by giving the crowd the silent treatment.  What is up with the standup comedian community lately!?  Can’t you guys just get on stage and make us laugh, without making headlines?