The NBA's first openly gay player Jason Collins has retired from basketball at the age of 35.

Collins announced that he was gay back in April 2013, though he did not play for a team until almost a year later when he signed for the Brooklyn Nets.

"In order to understand why I am so lucky to be sitting here today as a person who is finally comfortable in his own skin, you need to understand how basketball saved me," he told ThePlayersTribune.com.

"I needed to live the past few years as an openly gay basketball player in order to be at peace retiring today."

Collins began his professional career with the New Jersey Nets in 2001 before spells with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards.