Donald Collins (born November 28, 1958) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Collins was drafted by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

, in the first round (18th pick), of the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

. Collins played in 303

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) games for four teams, over six seasons, averaging just under 10 points per game for his career.

College career

Collins, a 6'6" tall Scott High School standout, was selected as the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Player of the Year, after averaging 23 points per game for

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

, in 1980 and leading the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1941. In a 2011 story, Cougfan.com recounted Collins' sterling career at Washington State and made the case that he is the greatest player in school history.

USBL and CBA

Collins starred in basketball minor leagues, averaging more than 30 points per game, in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

(USBL). A member of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA's) 50th Anniversary Team, Collins is regarded as one of the most prolific scorers in the history of minor league basketball. Collins had two 63-point scoring games in the minor leagues, both in 1986: In the CBA, as a member of the Baltimore Lightning, against the

Detroit Spirits The Savannah Spirits were a professional basketball team that played for two years in the Continental Basketball Association from 1986 to 1988, amassing a total regular season record of 42 wins and 60 losses for a total of 306.5 points. The team ...

; and in the USBL, as a member of the Tampa Bay Flash, against the Jersey Jammers. That same year, as a member of the

Tampa Bay Thrillers The Tampa Bay Thrillers were a franchise in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1984–1987. They won back-to-back championships in 1984–85 and 1985–86. At the end of the 1986–87 CBA regular season the team relocated to Rapi ...

, Collins earned MVP honors at the CBA All-Star Game. Collins and

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Bill Musselman William Clifford Musselman (August 13, 1940 – May 5, 2000) was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was known for his trademark intensity, once being quoted as saying, "Defeat is worse than death ...

, led the Thrillers to three consecutive CBA titles.

Professional career

Collins also spent several seasons playing professionally overseas, in France for

CSP Limoges Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

and Rupella La Rochelle, and in Switzerland, for Pully and Cossonay.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 47 , , - , , 25.2 , , .434 , , .000 , , .846 , , 4.0 , , 2.4 , , 1.5 , , 0.2 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , 1980–81 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 34 , , - , , 19.4 , , .463 , , .000 , , .673 , , 2.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 9.8 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 79 , , 18 , , 20.4 , , .511 , , .083 , , .716 , , 2.5 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 65 , , 21 , , 24.2 , , .523 , , .000 , , .743 , , 3.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 11.8 , - , align="left" , 1983–84 , align="left" , Golden State , 61 , , 6 , , 15.7 , , .483 , , .200 , , .730 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 11 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .353 , , .000 , , .889 , , 1.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, 6 , , 0 , , 9.5 , , .357 , , .000 , , .714 , , 2.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 4.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 303 , , 45 , , 20.2 , , .485 , , .069 , , .749 , , 2.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 9.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 7 , , - , , 21.3 , , .432 , , - , , .714 , , 3.1 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 0 , , 18.9 , , .432 , , .000 , , .714 , , 2.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 5.4

References

External links

Don-Collins.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Don 1958 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in France American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players Baltimore Lightning players Basketball players from Ohio Golden State Warriors players Lancaster Lightning players Limoges CSP players Milwaukee Bucks players Rapid City Thrillers players Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Tampa Bay Thrillers players Washington Bullets players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players Small forwards Shooting guards United States Basketball League players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Philippine Basketball Association imports San Miguel Beermen players