Collins first openly gay NBA player signed by Brooklyn Nets

Veteran basketball player Jason Collins has become the first openly gay athlete to play in a competitive game for a major US professional sports league, after entering a 10-day contract with Brooklyn Nets.

The towering American professional basketball centre has played for five other NBA teams, but only in April last year, Collins revealed that he was gay.

According to the BBC, Nets wanted another big man on their team and signed Collins, who had earlier helped them reach two NBA finals in the early 2000s.

The Nets General Manager Billy King said that the decision to sign Collins was a basketball decision and his experience and size made him the right choice for a 10-day contract.

The news came forward as another US sportsman, Michael Sam, revealed that he was gay ahead of America's Football NFL Scouting combine, where NFL teams sign college students, the report added.

In May last year, Los Angeles Galaxy footballer Robbie Rogers reportedly became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a US professional league, but Major League Soccer is not regarded as part of the four main sports competitions in the US.