Jason Collins, a retired NBA player, is currently receiving treatment for stage 4 glioblastoma, known as one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. This comes three months after his family publicly shared his diagnosis.
Collins, who enjoyed a 13-season career with six teams and made history as the first openly gay active player in the NBA, recently spoke to ESPN. He mentioned that since the tumor is unresectable, he’s mostly relying on standard treatments, which typically offer a prognosis of only 11 to 14 months.
“I’m being treated at a clinic in Singapore that specializes in targeted chemotherapy using something called EDV. It functions somewhat like a Trojan horse by identifying proteins exclusive to glioblastomas and delivering toxins directly to the tumor,” Collins, 47, explained, emphasizing the need to “fight hard” against this cancer.
In his treatment plan, he also mentioned integrating immunotherapy, which is still in the research phase, alongside radiation and chemotherapy.
“The aim is to stall the tumor’s growth until I can start a personalized immunotherapy, and to stay healthy enough to undergo that treatment when the time comes,” he added.
In September, Collins’ family released a statement via his social media, revealing his condition, noting that he was not in a state to speak for himself.
The former center recalled some unusual symptoms appearing around August, which led to him and his husband, Branson Green, missing a flight they had planned to the US Open. “I was supposed to be ready like any other year, but when the car arrived, I found myself completely unprepared. I struggled with packing and, for the first time in decades, I missed my flight,” Collins shared.
A CT scan at UCLA confirmed that “something was really wrong” with his brain.
Collins described how, within a short time, his mental clarity and short-term memory faded, likening his experience to that of Dory from Finding Nemo, a character known for her memory issues. “We’ll see soon enough how severe it really was,” he mentioned.
At one point, friends and family visited him in the hospital to say their goodbyes, as there was anxiety that he may not recover from this “fog.”
“By mid-October, I was able to take short walks around the neighborhood,” he noted. “My husband handed me back my phone, and apparently, I had been sending some bizarre texts and just zoning out on TikTok for hours.”
The couple later attended the premiere of a film, Regretting You, in Los Angeles in October.
“…You’re reading this because I finally figured things out. Anyone who knows me knows not to count me out,” Collins remarked.
