ESPN analyst Charles Barkley paid tribute to the late Jason Collins on Wednesday, calling the NBA’s first openly gay player a courageous trailblazer while arguing that deep-seated hostility toward gay athletes still pervades American sports.

Collins, a longtime NBA center who became the first man to come out as openly gay while playing in any of America’s four major professional sports leagues, died Tuesday after months of treatment for glioblastoma. He was 47.

Before Wednesday night’s Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, the “Inside the NBA” crew paid tribute to Collins alongside current Memphis Grizzlies player Brandon Clarke, who also died this week.

Barkley praised Collins for the personal cost of his public disclosure. “Courageous, and when he came out, man, I thought it was amazing to put himself under the microscope and the scrutiny and the hatred and the vitriol that was going to happen,” Barkley said. “But man, I hate the way this story ended because he was a shining example.”

The remarks came in direct response to analyst Kenny Smith, who argued that society had progressed to the point where an active player coming out is no longer a major event. Barkley pushed back. “We live in a homophobic society, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. 

Barkley went further, contending that gay athletes across professional sports remain closeted out of fear. “Anybody who thinks we ain’t got a bunch of gay players in all sports, they’re just stupid,” he said. “There is such animosity toward the gay community. And that’s what’s really unfortunate.”

Since Collins came out in 2013, no other active NBA player has publicly followed his lead. 

Barkley also singled out the Black community. “A lot of times, especially in the black community, when you’re gay, you get treated awful. And that sucks, too. But I was proud of him for coming out.”

Collins made history in 2013 with a first-person cover essay in Sports Illustrated declaring, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m Black. And I’m gay.” He had been considering going public since 2011. 

In the middle of the 2013-14 season, the Brooklyn Nets signed Collins to a 10-day contract. He played in 22 games with the Nets that year before retiring after the season. 

Collins revealed in December that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive and inoperable forms of brain cancer. He and his husband, Brunson Green, traveled to Singapore to pursue an experimental treatment that delivered chemotherapy drugs directly to the tumor. The cancer returned, and he died peacefully at home surrounded by family.