“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,” wrote Jason Collins in a personal essay to Sports Illustrated back in 2013. These words held significance as, by releasing them to the public eye, Collins became the first openly gay player in the NBA. While the athlete retired from the league soon after that, in 2014, he kept sharing updates of his personal life from time to time. This is how it was revealed, back in May 2025, that Collins was finally a married man.

Amidst reports of the former NBA player undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, let us take a look at the man who stands beside Jason Collins during his time of need.

Who is Jason Collins’ partner, Brunson Green?

Brunson Green is a Hollywood film producer who also serves as president of Harbinger Pictures, a feature film production company based in Los Angeles. According to IMDB, he boasts having worked on 14 projects as a producer, with 3 of them yet to be released. One of his previous projects includes the successful 2011 period drama film ‘The Help’, featuring Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. ‘The Help’ would go on to receive four Academy Award nominations, which included Best Picture, Best Actress for Davis, and Best Supporting Actress for both Jessica Chastain and Spencer. Spencer went on to win her award.

Along with ‘The Help’, the other projects Green worked on over the years include the David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike film ‘A United Kingdom’, ‘Pretty Ugly People’ which starred Missi Pyle and Melissa McCarthy, ‘Wannabe’ starring Craig Robert Young, etc.

Brunson Green’s early life

Born in Jackson, Mississippi in November 1967, Brunson Green’s life seems destined for the silver screen. In a serendipitous twist that sounds straight out of a script, Green and his longtime friend and collaborator, Tate Taylor, met when they were just five years old. Their paths diverged for a time, with Green attending a rival school, but they reconnected as adults when they both returned to Mississippi with dreams of making it in the film industry.

It was Green who gave Taylor his big break, advising him to get a job as a production assistant on the film A Time to Kill, which was shooting in their hometown. That experience not only launched Taylor’s career, but it also introduced him to a then-unknown extras PA named Octavia Spencer, according to an August 2011 interview by Stephen Saito for The Movable Fest. Little did they know, this trio would one day create the Oscar-winning film The Help.

Green’s own filmmaking journey began earlier, in Austin, Texas, which he fondly refers to as his “own little film school.” After graduating with an economics degree from Trinity University, he took a prop intern position on the set of Lonesome Dove. He worked his way up through various departments, learning the craft from every angle. This hands-on experience taught him to appreciate every role on a set, from a location manager to a wardrobe designer.

When he finally moved to Los Angeles and started his production company, Harbinger Pictures, he felt ready. He cast Tate Taylor in his very first short film, 1997’s Stick Up, solidifying their bond and launching a friendship that has endured for decades. It was a project that, in Green’s own words, made him realize, “okay, I kind of like this.” He was right—and the rest, as they say, is Hollywood history.

When did Jason Collins and Brunson Green marry?

According to ‘The Independent’, Jason Collins had been dating Brunson Green since 2014, the same year the former announced his retirement from the NBA. The duo first reportedly met at a housewarming party. As the former Atlanta Hawks player recalled during an interview with Sports Illustrated, “I was dating another guy at the time. I didn’t see Brunson again until we ran into each other at a party three months later. By that point, I was single again. Brunson left for Europe the following day, and, while he was overseas, I asked everyone I knew in LA, ‘Have you heard of this guy?’”

After being together for almost a decade, Collins and Green reportedly got engaged in 2023. They got engaged on the same night the Los Angeles Lakers held their annual ‘Pride Night’. Then, in May 2025, the couple spoke their vows and got married in a ceremony that reportedly took place in Austin, Texas.

Amongst the invited guests were former NBA player Richard Jefferson and ‘The Help’s star Octavia Spencer. She shared a photo of the couple on Instagram walking down the aisle after becoming newlyweds. Spencer also added a caption on the post that read “Welcome to the family @jasoncollins_98. You’ve chosen well, and so has he! Love you, B!”.

The festivities included, as ‘Instinct’ reporter Eugene Sun said, “a little razzle-dazzle”. After all, the couple had brought in Texas-based drag queens Nadine Hughes and Alysha Pretty to perform at their rehearsal dinner. Amongst the songs they performed was “a side-splitting rendition” of ‘A Whole New World’ from ‘Aladdin’.

Jason Collins and Brunson Green’s relationship

Over the years, the couple has made several public appearances. They appeared together at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2017. In June 2024, the couple together attended the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center as part of Jason Collins’ role with the NBA Cares program. For Collins, that initiative aims to bring about a positive change in society, which also includes promoting change through LGBTQ community events.

Brunson Green’s Net Worth in 2025

Brunson Green’s net worth is not public knowledge. However, according to IMDB, we know that he got a significant amount through ‘The Help’, since the film earned $216 million on a $25 million production budget. Green’s Harbinger Pictures recently produced the upcoming romantic drama film ‘Regretting You’, inspired by the novel of the same name by ‘It Ends With Us’ author Colleen Hoover. On top of that, two other projects, ‘Playing to the Gods’, and a mini-series titled ‘Kings of America’ continue to remain in pre-production.

Tributes and heartwarming messages continue to pour in for Jason Collins as he recovers from his ailment. Now, it remains to be seen what awaits the NBA star and his husband in the future.