Rumors

Near the north side of Illinois State’s basketball arena is a statue of a coach kneeling as a player stands behind him with his hand on the coach’s shoulder. The coach is Will Robinson, the first African American head basketball coach in NCAA Division I history. The player is former Illinois State star guard Doug Collins, who is also a Basketball Hall of Famer. “They paid to have a statue built in front of our arena at Illinois State,” Collins said at the Hall of Fame news conference at the Mohegan Sun on Saturday. “It was Coach Robinson kneeling down with my hand on his shoulder. And I always tell people, ‘That’s not a basketball story.’ That’s a white kid from Benton, Illinois, being with this Black man from Detroit and them coming together creating a Division I program they could leave. “It was a love story. My hand on my shoulder, to me, was saying, ‘Coach, I trust you and I believe in you.’ And I think it’s harder and harder to get those relationships these days because a coach’s voice is way down the ladder in terms of who these guys are listening to. He said, ‘Wherever your voice hits a young man’s life will determine how you will be able to help.”

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Collins also was the No. 1 pick in the 1973 NBA draft out of Illinois State, a three-time All-American and played on the 1972 Olympic basketball team member. He holds Illinois State records in career scoring (2,240), season scoring (847), career field goals made (894), and season field goals made (352). The floor at Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena was renamed “Doug Collins Court” in 2007. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. And 15 years after the statue was unveiled, Collins credited Robinson for much of his success. “I went to play in college for the first Black coach in Division I basketball, and I grew up in an all-white community and Coach Robinson was from Detroit. Coach Rob, I fell in love with him and he helped me toughness and gave me great wisdom,” Collins said.

Andscape

Barry Jackson: At the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions on Sunday, Oct. 13 this year, Heat president Pat Riley will be among 11 presenters for the great Jerry West (who died in June) and five five presenters for former Lakers guard Michael Cooper. West is being inducted as a contributor after being inducted as a player in 1980. Former Heat partner Billy Cunningham will be among 3 presenters for Doug Collins.

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KC Johnson: Bulls Chairman and fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Reinsdorf on Doug Collins’ induction.

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On Saturday in Phoenix, the Basketball Hall of Fame announced Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Michael Cooper, Seimone Augustus, Jerry West, Herb Simon, Doug Collins, Bo Ryan, Walter Davis, Charles Smith, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin and Michele Timms will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in August.

USA Today Sports

Women’s Committee Finalists: Seimone Augustus, Marian Washington. Veteran Committee Finalists: Dick Barnett, Harley Redin. International Committee Finalist: Michele Timms. Contributors Committee Finalists: Doug Collins, Herb Simon, Jerry West

NBA.com

Del Harris on Peter Vecsey: I want to begin by saying I first met Peter almost 50 years ago when he brought a group of good players from New York City’s Rucker Park, including Tiny Archibald, to the Dominican Republic to play against the DR national team to help prepare them for the Central American Championships. I had contacts in the DR and they asked if Tom Nissalke and I could bring some Rockets during this off-season time to play as well. They paid money in DR pesos, but that is another story. It was a good thing to do for everyone and DR won the championship. That was all good. The Rockets were in receivership when Tom asked me to come there with him from the (ABA’s) Utah Stars. We had a great first year because we traded two future first-round picks (1977, ’78) for Moses Malone at the start of the season. He had been with us in the short time we were at the Stars. Getting what would become an all-time great was not the only boost — we drafted John Lucas in our first round, giving us a great feeder for the big guy and we had very good players who were excellent shooters all around with them. We lost in the 1977 Eastern Conference finals in six to Philadelphia with Dr. J (Julius Erving), George McGinnis, Bobby Jones, Doug Collins and others. Tom was named the 1977 NBA Coach of the Year.

edodevenreporting.com

Kwame Brown: “You had a coach in Doug Collins who didn’t believe in playing young players, and Michael didn’t either,” said Brown. “Michael’s last hoorah, he wanted to win a championship. He thought that if he could get to the playoffs, he could win a championship. I was meant to be traded. They wanted to trade me or Tyson Chandler to the Clippers for Elton Brand.”

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Three people, including two Illinois State University alumni, will be recognized Saturday for their professional achievement and public service as recipients of the Order of Lincoln. The awards are the state’s highest honor and will be presented to Doug Collins, Robert Fraley and Donald McHenry at the Lincoln Academy 56th Annual Convocation.

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Alykhan Bijani: Stephen Silas said he's heard from Doc Rivers (told him about his 18-game losing streak), Don Nelson, Steve Kerr, Luke Walton, and Doug Collins since the end of yesterday's game.

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Barring something unforeseen, Young will become the 145th player in NBA history to appear in 1,000 games Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs. That total includes those who played games in the defunct American Basketball Association. It’s a select group. It speaks to longevity, durability and accountability. Talk to people who have played with or coached Young and you’ll hear them gush just like LaVine did. NBC Sports Chicago talked to Doug Collins and Nate McMillan, two coaches who spent three seasons with Young with the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers, respectively.

NBC Sports

Doug Collins, spent 2010-13 with Young: He’s one of the neatest men I’ve ever been around in my entire life. Obviously, we know what kind of player he is. But he’s a special person too. He would do anything for your team to win. I remember when I took the Philly job, I called him on the phone and introduced myself to him. I said, ‘Thad, I promise I’m going to get the best out of you. That’s my promise to you.’ And he said, ‘Coach, I’m ready to go to work.’ That’s sort of his manta.

NBC Sports

When I first went to Philadelphia, I was trying to figure out how I could best put the team together. And I sat with our coaches. And I went to Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young and said, ‘You’re two of our five best players. Will you come off the bench so we could have one of the best benches in the NBA?’ I told them you’re not going to start but I promise you that you’ll play at the end of the game. Well, Thaddeus finished third and Lou sixth in Sixth Man of the Year voting. I can compare his durability to my career where I was a guy who was hurt quite frequently late in my career. It’s so important to be available for your team every night. It used to break my heart that I couldn’t play because I was hurt. Thad takes care of himself. You know what you’re going to get from him every night. Especially in the days of load management, that’s such an accomplishment. This season is where durability is going to come into play. When you’re playing 19 games in 37 days, now you really need to count on people who are going to be there for you every night. I don’t want to in any way jinx that, but he answers the bell, man. He’s there.

NBC Sports

Paul Pierce, Doug Collins, Michael Cooper and Lauren Jackson headline the group of first-time nominees for the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, announced Tuesday on ESPN's The Jump. Also joining the first-time group is Howard Garfinkel, Lou Henson, Val Ackerman and Yolanda Griffith, to go with popular returning candidates Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Richard Hamilton, Becky Hammon, Swin Cash and Ben Wallace.

ESPN