Jason Collins made history on Sunday night when he became the first openly gay male athlete to play in one of the four major American sports.

Naturally, the big news led to a great deal of reaction on Twitter as fans and players alike echoed positive sentiments for Collins after he signed the 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

Perhaps the most notable words of the night came from Kobe Bryant, who has come a long way since he was fined for using a homophobic slur. The Lakers star has since become one of the most vociferous players in terms of offering support for LGBT issues.

"His impact [Sunday night] is greater than what people think," Bryant, who is missing time due to an injury, said to Yahoo Sports before the game started. "You look at it from the context of having the first openly gay player. But they missed the domino effect that it has way beyond sports."

"It's fantastic. It sets an incredible precedent," Bryant continued. "It's dealing with a lot of issues for kids who are afraid to be themselves. Afraid to be themselves because of the peer pressure that comes with it. A lot of these kids have depression issues or they're being teased from other kids for being different. You wind up seeing a lot of suicides, kids injuring themselves and getting hooked on things that they should not be hooked on."

Other stars also chimed in with some great words. Miami Heat veteran Dwyane Wade kept it short and sweet when he said, "One thing I know about him is he fouled very hard.... Welcome back."

Michael Sam, the football star who came out earlier this month, was happy to see Collins back on the court and sent a congratulatory tweet: "Congratulations to my friend @jasoncollins34 - excited to see you do work out there #courage #groundbreaking"

Plenty of other people chimed in as well but we're likely to hear even more reaction in the coming days as Collins settles into his role during his second stint with the Nets.