Jason Collins may not have a team right now, but he does have supporters, and is inspiring many by his monumental coming out earlier this year: “WWE superstar Darren Young surprised plenty of professional wrestling fans Wednesday by making a matter-of-fact announcement that he was gay. The proclamation came as a result of a TMZ-style ambush in the baggage claim area of LAX, where Young was asked if a gay wrestler could succeed in the WWE. Since coming out publicly, Young, whose real name is Fred Rossen, has received words of support from WWE head Vince McMahon and several fellow wrestlers. He appeared on theTODAY show Friday morning, where he told Matt Lauer about how NBA player Jason Collins’ announcement earlier this year inspired him to be open about his own sexuality.”
“I talked to Jason Collins last night and he actually gave me some advice on how to handle this whole situation and how to cope with it and how to be positive and be a strong individual,” Young said.
Asked if Collins inspired him, he said, “Yeah, he did. Right on.”
After two surgeries in two months, Phoenix Suns rookie Alex Len is preparing to show what he’s got in the NBA: “Len, the Suns’ No. 5 overall pick in June, has spent most of this year with a protective boot on one foot or the other after undergoing surgery to repair a partial stress fracture in his left ankle after his Maryland season and then another surgery on his right ankle last month as a proactive move when it showed signs of another potential fracture. Len, 20, has been out of the boot for a week and is on schedule to be ready to participate when Suns training camp opens in Flagstaff in late September. He lost weight after his surgery but has gained back 10 pounds during his rehabilitation work in the past month.”
“I’ve got two more weeks of rehab and then I’ll be back about 85-90 percent,” Len said. “I’ll be back for training camp and be ready for the season. The ankle’s feeling great. I have no pain.”
He may not have gone to Germany ala Kobe Bryant, but Dwayne Wade is confident his new treatment will help his knee: “Dwyane Wade offered a revelation Thursday about the knee issues that limited him during last season’s run to the NBA championship . . . and it was shocking. That actually could turn out to be a good thing for the Miami Heat guard. Speaking before the start of his adult fantasy camp, Wade revealed that he underwent OssaTron shockwave treatment a month ago to deal with tendinitis. Wade said the results have largely been favorable, hopeful for similar relief to what he experienced after a similar round of treatment in 2007.”
“I had to take a month off after I did my treatment and this weekend will be a month to the day,” he said during an event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. “It’s the kind of treatment for tendinitis, certain areas in your knee.”
Paul Pierce may be ready to play for Brooklyn, but one famous coach believes he should still be playing for Boston: “University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams believes Brad Stevens will do very well as he makes the move from college to the Celtics bench, but he does have some mixed feelings about the situation. He wishes Stevens could be coaching Paul Pierce. In a chat during this week’s Jim Calhoun Celebrity Golf Classic in Connecticut, Williams told the Herald that he’d have liked to see his former Kansas pupil remain in Green his entire career. Pierce spent 15 years with the Celtics but was dealt to the Nets with Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry this summer as the locals try to rebuild their roster on the fly.”
“Yeah, I am a little sad,” he said. “And I understand that it had to happen. They want to make over the team because everybody’s getting older.
“Hey, I’m getting older myself. I turned 63 on Aug. 1. But I was just really hoping that Paul would be able to be a one-team guy.
“One of the reasons I thought seriously about staying at Kansas 10 years ago and not coming back to North Carolina was that I wanted to be one of those coaches that just coached at one school. I admire some of those professional athletes that just stay with one club, and I was hoping Paul would be one of them.”
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.