NBA Roundup: Lakers are out...and so is Jason Collins

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 28: Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers is consoled by Kobe Bryant after coming out of the game in the second half against the San Antonio Spurs during Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 28, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. The Spurs defeated the Lakers 103-82. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Injuries proved to be the ultimate undoing of the Los Angeles Lakers this year. What will be the future of the Lakers? Will Dwight Howard stay? Will Pau Gasol be traded? In other NBA news, Jason Collins has become the first active male athlete in a major American team sport to come out as gay.

The season started out promising enough, but injuries proved to be the ultimate undoing of the Los Angeles Lakers this year. The short-handed team—minus Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace and more—were swept out of the first round of the NBA playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. Now plenty of thorny questions face the Purple and Gold. Will Dwight Howard stay? Will Pau Gasol be traded? With Kobe’s torn Achilles tendon and the difficulty of recovering from such an injury, who will be the future of the Lakers?

In other NBA news, Jason Collins, a 12-year NBA veteran, has become the first active male athlete in a major American team sport to come out as gay. He made the announcement in a first-person piece for Sports Illustrated. “I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand,” Collins writes in Sports Illustrated.