With two words - 'I'm gay' - NBA player Jason Collins made sports history Monday, drawing widespread praise from fans, ex-teammates and two presidents.
'Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community,' said a statement from Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea has been friends with Collins since their days at Stanford University.
'It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities.'
A White House official also said that President Barack Obama even called Collins to 'express his support' and said he was impressed by his courage.
On her Facebook page, Chelsea Clinton said she was proud of her pal 'for having the strength and courage to become the first openly gay athlete in the NBA.'
It's not just the NBA. Collins, 34, is the first openly gay male in any of the four leading professional team sports in America. He came out in the pages of Sports Illustrated in a first-person essay.
'I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay,' he wrote.
The journeyman free agent, who most recently played for the Washington Wizards, said that while he started thinking about revealing his sexual orientation in 2011, it was the Boston M.