As sports fans across the country familiarize themselves with Jason Collins, the groundbreaking NBA center who disclosed he was gay in a Sports Illustrated on Monday, one tidbit of information has received lots of attention.
During Collins' time in high school, at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, Collins was backed up by a 6-foot-4 forward named Jason Segal. Then known by the nickname "Doctor Dunk," Segal went on to have a spectacular acting career, starring in How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets.
Then, Collins and his twin brother, Jarron, were making headlines with their stellar play. But Segal gained attention with some spectacular dunks, including one in which he flushed the ball after pulling his jersey over his head. A Los Angeles Times article from 1996 describes Segal as the "seventh man and self-appointed court jester."
How prescient.
"I'm not nearly as skilled a basketball player as some of the other guys," Segal said at the time. "But I have a lot of bravado."
