According to a deeply personal editorial published this Monday on Sports Illustrated’s website, professional American basketball player Jason Collins has announced that he is gay.

The 34-year-old Washington Wizards’ center is now the first ever active male professional athlete to "come out of the closet” in any of the 4 major American team sports.

"Imagine you're in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook,” wrote Collins. "I should know -- I baked for 33 years.”

The veteran NBA player Jason Paul Collins, who played for six teams during 12 seasons in his career, co-wrote first-person account with Illustrated’s Frank Lidz that will appear in the May 6 print issue of the magazine.

He claimed in the account that he dated women when he was younger and was even once engaged.

"I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue,” he said.

While he never had the same attraction to girls that his twin brother Jarron had growing up, he hid his difference in orientation for years – even while playing aggressive basketball throughout high school and college.

He came out to his brother last summer, who was shocked for a few hours, then settled into brotherly support and acceptance of his twin.

"No one wants to live in fear. I've always been scared of saying the wrong thing. I don't sleep well. I never have. But each time I tell another person, I feel stronger and sleep a little more soundly,” said Collins. "It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. I've endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew. And yet when I acknowledged my sexuality I felt whole for the first time.”

It is now 2013 and Collins said timed his announcement as best he could to avoid scrutiny and distraction from his game.

"Loyalty to my team is the real reason I didn't come out sooner,” he said. "When I signed a free-agent contract with Boston last July, I decided to commit myself to the Celtics and not let my personal life become a distraction. When I was traded to the Wizards, the political significance of coming out sunk in. I was ready to open up to the press, but I had to wait until the season was over.”

Supporting Collins in his decision, David Stern, the NBA Commissioner said in a statement that people at NBA world are proud of him for assuming the leadership mantle on an extremely important issue like this.

The hardest part of his decision, though, was the thought that his close-knit Christian family would be affected.

"My parents instilled Christian values in me. They taught Sunday school, and I enjoyed lending a hand. I take the teachings of Jesus seriously, particularly the ones that touch on tolerance and understanding,” said Collins.

The NBA player didn’t allude to the widely-held Judeo-Christian belief that homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord. (Leviticus 18:22)

Collins said his relatives have told him repeatedly that as long as he’s happy, they're there for him.

Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton, friend and classmate of Collins at Stanford University, also stepped forward to offer moral support to him by tweeting that she’s "more than proud of her friend Jason Collins for having the strength & courage to be the first openly gay player in the NBA.”

Not everyone has given social media endorsements about Collins decision to come out.

NFL player Mike Wallace tweeted recently, "All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin' my head).”

Wallace quickly deleted his tweet and replaced it with an apology.

While it may be taboo for male athletes to identify as homosexual, the world received similar news in October 2005 when female basketball star Sheryl Swoopes announced her relationship to Alisa Scott.

Swoopes, the three-time WNBA MVP and the first player to be signed with the league when it was created, announced that she was gay. She was at the time the highest profile athlete in a team sport to do so publicly.

Two years ago, to the chagrin of the LGBT community, Swoopes, announced her engagement to a man -- Christopher Unclesho.