Paul Douglas Collins (born July 28, 1951) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

executive, former player, coach and television analyst in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). He played in the NBA from 1973 to 1981 for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

, earning four

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...

selections. He then became an NBA coach in 1986, and had stints coaching the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

and Philadelphia 76ers. Collins also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcast shows. He is a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award.

Early life

Collins was born in

Christopher, Illinois Christopher is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,382 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Christopher was founded in 1879 as a railroad stop, and nam ...

. He grew up in Benton, Illinois, where his next-door neighbor was future film star John Malkovich. Collins enjoyed a successful

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

basketball career at Benton Consolidated High School under renowned coach

Rich Herrin Rich Herrin (April 6, 1933 – December 25, 2020) was a top collegiate basketball coach in America. From 2012 to 2014, he coached collegiately at Morthland College, as well as the Southern Illinois University Salukis men's basketball tea ...

College career

Collins went on to play for

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh mos ...

, coached from 1970 by Will Robinson, the first black head coach in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

Professional career

Philadelphia 76ers (1973–1981)

Collins was drafted first overall in the 1973 NBA draft by the

. He played eight seasons for Philadelphia, and was an

four times. In the 1976–77 season, he joined

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. A rash of injuries to his feet and left knee beginning in 1979 would end Collins' career in 1981. In all, he played 415 NBA games, scoring 7,427 points (17.9 per game).

Coaching career

After his retirement, Collins turned to coaching. He joined

Bob Weinhauer Robert Weinhauer (born May 23, 1939) is an American former basketball coach and executive. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1982 and at Arizona State University from 1982 to 1985, compiling ...

's staff at Penn as an assistant coach and later followed Weinhauer to Arizona State for the same job.

Chicago Bulls (1986–1989)

In May 1986, Collins was named head coach of the

; the team featured a young

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

who was entering his third season. Despite having Jordan, the Bulls were coming off a 30–52 season and fired their past two coaches after one season each. Collins immediately helped the Bulls turn around their fortunes, showing an improvement of 10 games in each of his first two seasons, coaching Chicago to a 50–32 record in his second year. In his third year as coach, he brought Chicago to their first Eastern Conference Finals Appearance in 15 years, however, they were unable to get past their Central Division rival the "Bad Boys"

. Despite the Bulls' success and his popularity in Chicago, Collins was fired in the summer of 1989.

Detroit Pistons (1995–1998)

Collins was named the head coach of the

in 1995. His arrival in Detroit was similar to his in Chicago, as the Pistons had a second-year star who drew comparisons to Michael Jordan,

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who is a co-owner and executive of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Duke University and is widely consider ...

. In his first season, he was able to improve the team's previous season's record by 18 games and lead them back to the playoffs, though they would be swept by the Orlando Magic. A fast start in his second season pushed Hill to the top of MVP consideration and Collins was named the Eastern Conference All-Star team's coach. The highlight of the year for Collins came on April 13, when the Pistons defeated the defending champion Bulls to end Detroit's 19-game losing streak against Chicago. (Incidentally Collins ended a Chicago losing streak against the Pistons in the 80's.) The Pistons finished 54–28 and lost in the first round of

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

to 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 Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, 3–2 in the best-of-five series. He served as Pistons' head coach until February 2, 1998, when he was fired and replaced by Alvin Gentry. Collins then became a television broadcaster, working for many years at various networks, such as NBC on the '' NBA on NBC'' and TNT on the '' NBA on TNT''.

Washington Wizards (2001–2003)

Collins worked as a broadcaster for about three years before being hired to coach the

for the start of the 2001–02 NBA season. In Washington, Collins was reunited with Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley. Once again, in his first season with his new team, Collins improved the team's previous season's record by 18 games. Though his .451 winning percentage through 2 seasons was better than the Wizards' .308 record the previous 2 seasons (and subsequent .305 record the following season), Collins was fired at the conclusion of the 2002–03 season.

Philadelphia 76ers (2010–2013)

On May 21, 2010, Collins was hired as head coach of the

. While the 76ers initially started out poorly with a record of 3–13, the team showed great improvement as the season went on, and clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for the

. Under Collins, the team increased its win total by 14 games over the previous season. They lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champion

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in the first round, but were able to avoid a sweep that had been predicted. Collins finished second in Coach of the Year voting that season. In the lockout-shortened 2011–2012 season, Collins led the Sixers to an improved record, but Philadelphia was only able to take the eighth seed in the playoffs. Against the top seeded Chicago Bulls, Collins led the Sixers to their first playoff series victory since 2003. It was the fifth time in NBA history that an eighth seed defeated a first seed in a playoff series. They took the next series against the Boston Celtics to seven games, but lost. Collins resigned as 76ers coach on April 18, 2013, citing a need to spend more time with his five grandchildren. It was announced that he would stay with the team as an adviser.

National team career

Collins represented the United States at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, West Germany. Those basketball games are remembered by U.S. fans mainly for the controversial gold medal basketball game between the United States and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, in which Collins played a key part.

Broadcasting career

Collins started doing work for CBS in the mid-1980s, calling mostly playoff games. He also was the lead color analyst for the local broadcasts of the 76ers' games during the 1985–86 season. In-between his various coaching stints he has done broadcasting work for CBS, NBC, TNT, TBS, and ABC/

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. He also called games for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...

during the 2003–04 season on MSG Network on a part-time basis, paired with Marv Albert. After being fired by the Wizards, Collins returned to announcing games for TNT. In addition, he served as an analyst for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and it ...

' TV coverage of basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also was a basketball analyst for NBC during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. During this time, Collins's name surfaced several times regarding head coaching vacancies. In 2005, he was a candidate for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

job but was passed over for Terry Stotts. Collins was approached by the team again in 2008 to serve as their GM and coach but turned them down again. In May 2008, Collins was in negotiations to coach the Chicago Bulls, nearly 20 years after he was fired from the team. However, Collins withdrew his name when he and owner Jerry Reinsdorf "agreed it wasn't the best to keep going this way," in light of their close personal friendship.

Executive career

Chicago Bulls (2017–present)

On September 19, 2017, the

announced that Collins had joined the team as senior advisor of basketball operations.

Personal life

Collins and his wife Kathy have two children. They reside in the Delaware Valley. Their son

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

, a former Duke University basketball player, is the head basketball coach at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

and their daughter Kelly, who played basketball at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Ep ...

, is a school teacher in Pennsylvania.

Awards and honors

Illinois State University's basketball court is named after Collins (Doug Collins Court at

Redbird Arena CEFCU Arena, formerly known as Redbird Arena, is a 10,200-seat multi-purpose arena located in Normal, Illinois, on the campus of Illinois State University. Built in 1989, the building is notable for its use of a Teflon-coated roof that gives ...

). A statue depicting Collins and his ISU coach, Will Robinson, was unveiled on September 19, 2009, outside the north entrance of Redbird Arena. Collins was inducted as a Laureate o
The Lincoln Academy of Illinois
and awarded the

Order of Lincoln The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...

(the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois on June 19, 2021.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 25 , , , , 17.4 , , .371 , , , , .764 , , 1.8 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , , , 34.8 , , .488 , , , , .844 , , 3.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 17.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , , , 38.9 , , .513 , , , , .836 , , 4.0 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 58 , , , , 35.1 , , .518 , , , , .840 , , 3.4 , , 4.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 18.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , , , 35.1 , , .526 , , , , .812 , , 2.9 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 19.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , , , 33.9 , , .499 , , , , .814 , , 2.6 , , 4.1 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 19.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , , , 26.8, , .466 , , .000 , , .911 , , 2.6 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .2 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , , , 27.4 , , .492 , , , , .828 , , 2.4 , , 3.5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 12.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 415 , , , , 33.6 , , .501 , , .000 , , .833 , , 3.2 , , 3.3 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 17.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 3 , , 1 , , 22.7 , , .458 , , , , .800 , , 4.3 , , 5.7 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 11.3

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1976 , style="text-align:left;”,

, 3 , , , , 39.0 , , .434 , , , , .857 , , 7.0 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

, style="text-align:left;”,

, 19 , , , , 39.9 , , .557 , , , , .740 , , 4.2 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 22.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978 , style="text-align:left;”,

, 10 , , , , 34.2 , , .497 , , , , .816 , , 3.1 , , 2.7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 20.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , , , 38.1 , , .526 , , , , .855 , , 4.1 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 21.5

Head coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 40 , , 42 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Central , , 3 , , 0 , , 3 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

First Round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, - , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 50 , , 32 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Central , , 10 , , 4 , , 6 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 47 , , 35 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Central , , 17 , , 9 , , 8 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Finals , - , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 46 , , 36 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Central , , 3 , , 0 , , 3 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 54 , , 28 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Central , , 5 , , 2 , , 3 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 45 , , 21 , , 24 , , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired) , , , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", , - , style="text-align:left;", Washington , style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 37 , , 45 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Atlantic , , , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", Washington , style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 37 , , 45 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 5th in Atlantic , , , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 41 , , 41 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Atlantic , , 5 , , 1 , , 4 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 66 , , 35 , , 31 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 3rd in Atlantic , , 13 , , 7 , , 6 , , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference Semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 34 , , 48 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Atlantic , , , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , colspan="2" style="text-align:center;", Career , 849 , , 442 , , 407 , , , , , , 56 , , 23 , , 33 , , , ,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Doug 1951 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Illinois Chicago Bulls head coaches College basketball announcers in the United States Detroit Pistons head coaches Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball players Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association broadcasters Olympic silver medalists for the United States in basketball People from Benton, Illinois People from Christopher, Illinois Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers head coaches Philadelphia 76ers players Shooting guards Small forwards United States men's national basketball team players Washington Wizards head coaches