Jason Collins announces retirement

The first openly gay male athlete in the four major North American sports is calling it a career.

Jason Collins announced his retirement from the NBA on Wednesday in a personal essay on SI.com that will also appear in the Nov. 24 issue of Sports Illustrated. Collins announced that he was gay in Sports Illustrated some 18 months ago, signing with the Brooklyn Nets nine months later and becoming the league's first active, openly gay player.

In the essay, Collins writes that he will make an official, public announcement at Barclays Center on Wednesday. The Nets are set to host the Milwaukee Bucks, and Collins has a strong relationship with Bucks coach Jason Kidd, who was both a teammate and Collins' coach last season.

Along with outlining some of his fondest memories from the past year and a half, Collins writes that as a sports community, there's a lot of work still to be done:

There are still no publicly gay players in the NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball. Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them. I know some of them personally. When we get to the point where a gay pro athlete is no longer forced to live in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.

Collins also wrote about his experience as an openly gay player at length in a personal essay for The Players' Tribune.

Collins appeared in 22 games with the Nets last season, bringing his career total to 735 over 13 seasons. At age 35 and with a skill set not in high demand, his retirement was largely expected. His impact, of course, will continue to be felt.