NEW YORK -- Jason Collins has been warmly received in his historic return to the NBA. Now its time for his own fans to welcome him back. More than a week after becoming the leagues first openly gay player, Collins will finally get to play a home game Monday night when the Brooklyn Nets host the Chicago Bulls. "It will be a lot of fun," Collins said. "I have some family and friends coming to the game. Im looking forward to seeing them and obviously the first home game." He has played hundreds in a Nets uniform, though it was a white, red and blue one, and the home games were in New Jersey. Plenty of fans and employees of the organization remain from when Collins played there from 2001-08, so he will likely be greeted by a loud ovation if he gets into the game. "Ive always said Im not worried about the reaction," said Nets coach Jason Kidd, who played with Collins when the franchise reached consecutive NBA Finals in 2003-03. "I think they will always support a Net. Hes been a Net before. I think theyll be excited to have him, but the big thing is him being able to help us defensively." Collins and the Nets have kept the focus as much on basketball as possible. They all view him as a big man who will willingly defend and foul -- he has racked up 10 of them already in four games -- who can help pass along 12 years of NBA experience to younger teammates such as Mason Plumlee and Andray Blatche. The fact that hes gay makes him much more than that outside the Nets locker room, but he thinks that story line will die down soon enough. "Theres only so many ways you can write the story, or tell the story, and then it will just be about basketball," he said during the middle of last week. Collins thought it had already reached that point, mistakenly believing that Saturdays victory in Milwaukee would be the first time reporters didnt want to talk to him after the game. Not quite yet. Collins may just be a 14th man on the roster to the Nets, but hes still far more than that to the fans he inspired from the moment he decided to come out in a Sports Illustrated article last April. "I think it is a big deal. Hes showing a lot of courage. Youre talking to a guy who was around when Jackie Robinson came in. Whats the difference? Its just as groundbreaking. I just hope hes judged as a basketball player," said Butch Pye, 69, of Castle Rock, Colo., who attended the Nets victory in Denver on Thursday. Collins debut is currently his only guaranteed home game. Hes nearing the end of the 10-day contract he signed on Feb. 23 before facing the Los Angeles Lakers. NBA rules allow teams to sign players to two 10-day deals, then have to sign them for the rest of the year if they want to keep them. There are plenty of reasons to retain Collins. He has brought plenty of positive attention and is making an impact in the gay and lesbian community, with the NBA pledging to donate at least $100,000 from sales of his No. 98 jersey to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. But those having nothing to do with basketball, and the Nets stressed in the press release announcing Collins signing that the move was a basketball decision. He can still do enough to make it a wise one, even with just one basket so far. With Brook Lopez lost for the season and Kevin Garnetts minutes being monitored, Kidd needs a big man he trusts to fill in for a few minutes. And a guy like Collins can help even when hes not in the game. He has defended Shaquille ONeal and Tim Duncan in the NBA Finals, so knows what it takes to guard even the biggest stars, even if hes rarely the one doing it. "When I was a younger guy, I learned from Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning. Its a cycle," Collins said. "Now that Im that old man at the end of the bench, that veteran, even though I may not be playing minutes, there definitely are ways I can help the team win." Wholesale Jerseys . Although Olivetti, a qualifier, had 13 aces, he failed to force a single break-point chance on Gasquets serve and lost his own three times. Gasquet next plays third-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, who won had 18 aces in a 6-2, 6-4 win against seventh-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. Soccer Jerseys . Ryu (8-3) allowed a run and three hits in six innings and struck out six in his 13th start. In his first 13 starts last season -- his first in the major leagues -- the left-hander was 8-5 with a 2.85 ERA. This was the ninth time this year that Ryu has allowed fewer than three earned runs, and he is 7-0 in those games. https://www.cheapjerseysjustwholesale.com/. 1. CAVALIERS: At 19-20, theyre a mess. 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Flowing attack has become a rarity and Pele is saddened by that. "Italy always played defence -- in my time, now, always," he said. "But unfortunately today, I think because of the millions, because of the new technology, because of the money from the sponsors, the people, they dont care the way they win." He says the message from coaches is not win, but rather "dont lose." "They dont care about the beautiful game. They dont care about the elegance of football. In my time, we used to think and give a little show." As the World Cup returns to the land of "jogo bonito" (the beautiful game), Pele has a new book, "Pele: Why Soccer Matters." He doesnt expect Brazil to have an easy path to a record sixth World Cup title -- two more than any other nation. "Germany has a very good team, young team, and then Spain. Spain is a team who plays together eight years, 10 years -- same team. Very nice organized team," he said on Wednesday. "This will be difficult.dddddddddddd. But we must respect Italy. We must respect Uruguay, because Uruguay is there. Argentina is there." Pele was a part of Brazils first three World Cup champions, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and he scored 77 goals in 92 games. He starred for Santos from 1956-74 and kick-started football in the United States with New York Cosmos from 1975-77. He still keeps an apartment in Manhattan. When he retired, he was considered to have no equal. Then Diego Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup with amazing darting runs, and to the 1990 final. And in this era, Barcelonas Lionel Messi and Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo are scoring at pretty much a goal-a-game rate for their clubs, although they havent won the ultimate prize with the national teams. "To compare Pele with Messi, with Maradona, is difficult because we have different styles," Pele said. If Pele were in charge of a club, who would be the first player hed try to sign? "Im going to say Neymar because he belongs to us. He comes for free," said Pele, referring to the young Brazilian forward Santos sold to Barcelona last summer. "But at the moment," Pele went on, "as I am a forward, as I score a lot of goals, I will decide: Cristiano Ronaldo." ' ' '