Journeyman NBA big man Jason Collins has come out of the closet becoming the first openly gay major sports player who wants to stay active. You’ll notice I’m putting a caveat on this still momentous announcement. Collins is an unsigned free agent who wants to play next year, but he’s a marginal player who played in 38 games last season hasn’t played in more than 49 game since 2008.

I hate to be the skunk at this particular garden party but if Collins remains unsigned, he’s just the latest recently retired player to come out. Decent big men *are* hard to come by but Collins could remain unsigned for legitimate basketball reasons: he’s 34, which is old for a cager. He may or may not get another shot but I hope that this gives a player in their prime the courage to come out. The NBA now looks like the best bet for a pioneer who may actually play in the 2013-2014 season.

Despite that somewhat windy essay, Jason Collins still deserves a rousing chorus of fuck yeahs from our little corner of the internet.