Rockets players harassed gay worker at Barclays Center, says lawsuit

A gay catering service worker claims he was taunted with homophobic slurs by Houston Rockets basketball players while setting up a buffet in their locker room at Barclays Center last year.

Rasean Tate says in a federal discrimination lawsuit that his back was turned when the insults were directed his way, reports The New York Post.

But he heard them.

The 28-year-old Tate claims that he was setting up the buffet in the visiting Rockets locker room before a game on Feb. 22, 2013, when he was all but chased from the area because he was gay.

“When the plaintiff’s back was turned to defendant Rockets players, he began to hear laughter and taunting voices saying ‘get this f—– out of here!’ ” according to the suit, and ” ‘He’s trying to catch a sneaky-peeky!’…

“These series of comments were repeated a number of times by defendant Rockets players and staff,” claims the suit. “Plaintiff could hear defendant Rockets players overlapping voices and laughter.”

The lawsuit claims Tate was phased out of locker room duty and demoted by Levy Restaurants (the company that handles catering at Barclays center) after he complained and he was given fewer hours to work because of it.

“It was loud and gregarious and there were overlapping voices,” Tate’s lawyer Marjorie Masidor told The Post.

A representative of the Nets allegedly witnessed the incident and told Tate to leave the locker room and that he would “take care of it,” according to the suit.

“I think there’s a bit of irony that this occurred in the same place where a person’s (Jason Collins) sexual identity is accepted and welcomed with openness, while in the same place a visiting team chose to degrade Rasean and set us back,” Masidor said.

Among the players on the Rockets roster for the game were James Harden, Carlos Delfino and Jeremy Lin. The lawyer would not say whether Tate could identify anyone who made the comments.

The Rockets organization and Levy were named in the suit. No Rockets players, Barclays Center or the Nets were named in the legal action.

Jason Collins makes Barclays Center debut after fans chant his name (VIDEO)

Impatient Brooklyn Nets fans tired of waiting for the chance to witness another historical milestone — in the same borough that debuted Jackie Robinson 67 years ago — began chanting "Jason Collins! Jason Collins!" in hope of seeing the first publicly gay man to participate in a major professional American team sport debut on his home court.

After it appeared Collins might not play for the first time in his five games as a Net on Monday night, even with many family and friends looking on at Barclays Center — as well as notables such as former NBA commissioner David Stern — coach Jason Kidd finally granted their wishes.

With the Nets in control, 92-75, and headed to a victory over the Bulls, Collins entered the game with 2:41 left and received a quick standing ovation before play resumed. 

"It was cool,'' he said after finishing with one rebound, one steal, one foul and one missed shot. "It was a lot of fun to go into a game. The most important thing is we got the win.''

Kidd said he inserted his old teammate he calls "Twin'' not because of the fans' chants but because the "game was out of hand'' and he wanted to get his regulars some rest.

"I don't pay attention to what people say; I'm sorry,'' he said. "Hopefully they were happy.''

From the sound of it, they were.

Before the game, when Collins was asked if his Barclays appearance would invoke Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodger who broke down baseball's  color barrier, he largely dismissed the comparison.

"What Jackie Robinson did for the sport of baseball, and for our society, was tremendous,'' the Nets backup center said. "I'm just trying to be Jason Collins.''

The Nets will sign Collins to a second 10-day contract Wednesday.

Nets looking to add openly-gay Collins to roster: Report

The Brooklyn Nets keep finding ways to keep their locker room interesting — and complicated. And the next potential Nets move might not be blockbusting but it would be trailblazing.

After announcing an NBA-rocking trade — to become official July 10 — that will bring seasoned veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Barclays Center, a source confirmed Friday that the Nets' organization has discussed signing free-agent center Jason Collins, the first openly gay male basketball player.

The 34-year-old Collins, who revealed his sexuality in a Sports Illustrated article last spring, is no stranger to the Nets' organization. He was teammates with Nets coach Jason Kidd for seven seasons in New Jersey, where they both played under current Brooklyn assistant Lawrence Frank.

Although the Nets may not need another big man, Collins' "name was brought up," said a well-connected source.

Collins, who advanced to two finals with the Nets, has bounced around the league as a backup since leaving New Jersey. He played last season with Garnett and Pierce in Boston, but was released before joining the Wizards.

Although the Nets have interest in Collins, there isn't much room on the roster for another physical presence in the paint. Not only did the Nets draft Duke center Mason Plumlee on Thursday, their blockbuster trade evolved Friday morning so that they are keeping bruising forward Reggie Evans and dealing swingman MarShon Brooks to the Celtics, a source said.

Collins has not played since announcing he was gay in April, so the next time he steps on the court will be a front-page event. And for the Nets, who have been making headlines lately by hiring Kidd and completing the trade for Garnett and Pierce, it's a chance to represent a different kind of Brooklyn — which is home to a large gay and lesbian community.

"It's certainly better than Utah or other communities that are not as cosmopolitan," said sports marketing expert Marc Ganis, adding that such a move could help the Nets win over Brooklyn residents who remain angry about the way the Barclays Center was imposed on the neighborhood.

"It is a demonstration that the Nets are a socially progressive organization. To people who opposed it (the Barclays Center) it could be a relevant factor."

Rogers signs with L.A. Galaxy as first openly gay male to compete in U.S. pro sports

Three months after coming out as gay and stepping away from the soccer pitch, midfielder Robbie Rogers has signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, reports USA Today. Rogers will be the first active openly gay player in Major League Soccer and to compete in U.S. professional sports.

Rogers also hopes to play for the U.S. national team during the 2014 World Cup.

The 26-year-old winger had a change of heart after he gave a speech to about 500 kids at an LGBT forum in April.

"I seriously felt like a coward," Rogers said. "These kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world, and I'm 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up to the plate?"

In February, Rogers shared on his website that it was time to step away and discover himself away from his sport.

"For the past 25 (years) I have been afraid, afraid to show whom I really was because of fear. Fear that judgment and rejection would hold me back from my dreams and aspirations," Rogers wrote. "Fear that my loved ones would be farthest from me if they knew my secret. Fear that my secret would get in the way of my dreams."

Since then, NBA player Jason Collins has publicly shared his sexuality through a Sports Illustrated story which opened up the conversation of openly gay men competing in professional sports.

Rogers says he got a call from the veteran center the afternoon after Collins released his story.

"[He] just wanted to see how the process had been like for me with media and the attention," Rogers said. "I just tried to give him as much advice as I could. He seems like such a nice guy." 

Jimmy Kimmel gives Jarron Collins a 'I'm the straight one' T-shirt

It looks like Jimmy Kimmel found out a way to take care of a mistaken identity problem that Jarron Collins and his twin brother Jason have been running into a lot lately.

Jason, who publicly came out as a gay NBA player a few weeks ago, has been all over the news. But it is the split-image resemblance between the two men that has people mistaking the straight Jarron for his more famous bro.

The late night television host had both of the 6' 11" NBA players on his show Wednesday and Kimmel took matters into his own hands by presenting Jarron with "I'm the straight one" T-shirt to distinguish the two apart. 

During the lighthearted interview Jarron admitted he never had a clue that his brother was gay and believes when the first joke is made [in the locker room] and Jason laughs, "the ice will be broken."

Afterwards someone posted a photo on Reddit showing one of them (yes it's Jarron) wearing his new ID tag.

Jason Collins' ex-fiancee freezing her eggs and milking her story

Carolyn Moos, the former fiancee of Jason Collins, revealed last week she is planning on freezing her eggs — after she said the basketball star wasted eight years of her life lying to her about his sexuality.

Moos said she always thought she would get married to Collins and have his children but these dreams were understandably shattered when he broke up with her in 2009 without a proper explanation. It was only last month, when he finally told her that he was gay, did she learn the real reason.

Besides hoping to get financial backing to make a documentary of her In Vitro Fertilization procedure, the jilted Moos wants to write a book about journey with the once closeted NBA player.

"I am in the process of making sense of my emotions and on a journey of healing ... about the recent news," the 34-year-old wrote on her website and e-mailed to journalists. "I will be writing a book and would like to reach out to you for quotes from pro athletes, coaches, relationships and topics include [sic] what it means to have a certain orientation and be a pro athlete ... This will just be one chapter ... but your input is highly appreciated."

Moos revealed earlier this week that Collins still did not apologize for lying to her for eight years.

So far, the 6-foot-5 personal trainer and former WNBA player hasn't had any offers for the $10,000 IVF procedure or the book.

Never mind fifteen, it sounds like Moos is looking for her full thirty minutes of fame.

Justin Tuck: It won't be 'okey-dokey' with Jason Collins in the locker room at first

New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck supports Jason Collins’ decision to come out as a gay NBA player, but thinks things may be a little awkward in the player’s locker room for a while. The NFL star sounded like he feels there will be a period of awkwardness at the start.

"I think there’ll be an adjustment period," Tuck told The New York Daily News’ Molly Friedman at the Food Bank for New York City’s Can-Do Awards at Cipriani Wall Street. "I don’t think it’s going to be okey-dokey in the beginning. It will be uncomfortable ... guys don’t necessarily know him."

Everybody's been publicly supportive of Collins' coming out party since Monday but, realistically, having an openly gay man in a professional team's locker room is going to take some getting used to for a lot of players for whatever reasons.

It's healthy to get a viable opinion from a veteran of eight NFL seasons to prepare people for that scenario.

Jason Collins got 'coming out' advice from singer Lance Bass

Before the world found out NBA player Jason Collins was gay on Monday, the free-agent reached out to former boy band singer Lance Bass for some support and advice before he made it public.

"Jason told me [Monday], 'I don't know many gay people because all my life was about sports, [and] I've had such a crazy schedule I never had time to think about my private life.' So I gave him some really good connections," the former member of N'Sync said on his SiriusXM show, "Dirty Pop With Lance Bass."

"He’s been trying to plan this for a very long time, contemplating if he wanted to do this," added Bass.

"In fact, he said he was going to call me months ago but was too scared, because he wanted to tell me. I don’t [know him personally]—we have mutual friends. [Actress] JoAnna Garcia [Swisher] is a really good friend of his and was like 'Call Lance.' And so he did. And I gave him some very good advice today because of course everybody wants to interview him…and he was figuring out who would get that first sit down. …he calls and I was like 'So, how is your day going?' And he was like 'Well, just got off the phone with two presidents and Oprah, so pretty good.'"