When the Brooklyn Nets signed big-man and openly gay athlete for a 10-day contract, it was purely a basketball operations necessity as the organization needed to increase its depth, Al Jazeera America reported.

In a statement to the press, Nets General Manager Billy King said, "The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision. We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract."

Since Collins's No. 98 jersey first hit the open market on the NBA's official league store, sales skyrocketed, NBA Senior Vice President Vicky Picca told CNN. Collins chose the No. 98 to represent and honor Matthew Shepard, an openly gay University of Wyoming student who was murdered because of his sexual orientation in October 1998.

As a result of the high sales, the league announced Friday that it would donate the proceeds of the sales to the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

According to Al Jazeera, the league said it also plans to auction off a game-worn, autographed Collins jersey that will go toward the organizations and that the donations will amount to no less than $100,000.

After announcing he was gay, Collins has become close friends with Shepard's parents through telephone calls but finally met face-to-face with Dennis and Judy Shepard on Thursday when the team played against the Denver Nuggets. He also gave them a signed jersey.

Collins's first game with the Nets on Feb. 23 against the Los Angeles Lakers would make the 35-year-old the NBA's first active openly gay player. Collins had been a free agent this season until returning to the team he played for the first seven seasons of his career.

It was no surprise that the team's returning 7-foot center would steal the spotlight as he has been adored and well-respected among NBA players and even opposing teams' fans after publicly coming out in a Sports Illustrated essay at the end of the last season.

According to league stats, since returning to the Nets, Collins has averaged a 33.3 field goal percent in the three games he has played. Collins has appeared in the NBA Finals twice during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons and has a career field goal average of 41 percent.