Shams: Nick Collison jersey to be retired in OKC.

[sixerswillrule]

He started partial seasons after but after they traded Miller 03-04 was the ONLY year Foster was the appointed and hopeful starter. After that they knew he was below average.

Again, I agree he gave effort...he just wasn't anything other than an AVERAGE rebounder and average to a below average player. Great effort but couldnt get double-figure boards...

You're an ELITE rebounder if you average 9 rebounds in 26 minutes.

yeah...pretty close...in per minute he would maybe be 20th? 12th at best? idk

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&season_start=1&season_end=-1&lg_id=NBA&age_min=0&age_max=99&is_playoffs=N&height_min=0&height_max=99&year_min=2001&year_max=2008&birth_country_is=Y&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=200&order_by=trb_per_mp

[gipper08]

You're an ELITE rebounder if you average 9 rebounds in 26 minutes.

yeah...pretty close...in per minute he would maybe be 20th? 12th at best? idk

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&season_start=1&season_end=-1&lg_id=NBA&age_min=0&age_max=99&is_playoffs=N&height_min=0&height_max=99&year_min=2001&year_max=2008&birth_country_is=Y&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=200&order_by=trb_per_mp

pretty good. The closest role player behind him a couple spots away is Jahadi White. Again, I agree he is a great hustle player and elite rebounder in limited minutes. For whatever reason, he was an average rebounder if you consider him your starting center with the burden of starting minutes. Could he have sustained those numbers if he played starter minutes ? IDK. Can role bench players expand their production when they become starters? Not in this case, it seems. Come playoffs his role regressed.

I do know against Detroit, etc, and when it counts, he was the worst starter on the floor. 7rpg is not enough from a starting center in that era and it does not really matter how many minutes he played because a true starting center plays at least 33 mins.

Even if he averaged four more rpg in his career I still have 40 Pacers ahead of him that deserve the honor more.

[Valard]

love this move. collison IS okc.

[SSUBluesman]

As an outsider it was always clear that Collison meant more to the franchise than your typical role player. I'd love to see them retire his jersey using one of the many awesome Sonics unis, but unfortunately that won't happen lol.

As a player he always seemed to be in the right position and make the right decisions. Definitely a player whose impact on the team went beyond the boxscore. Also I remember him being a good, underrated passer, especially in the interior.

[Unbiased hater]

Great White Retirement

[JermaineOYea]

yeah...pretty close...in per minute he would maybe be 20th? 12th at best? idk

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&season_start=1&season_end=-1&lg_id=NBA&age_min=0&age_max=99&is_playoffs=N&height_min=0&height_max=99&year_min=2001&year_max=2008&birth_country_is=Y&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=g&c1comp=gt&c1val=200&order_by=trb_per_mp

pretty good. The closest role player behind him a couple spots away is Jahadi White. Again, I agree he is a great hustle player and elite rebounder in limited minutes. For whatever reason, he was an average rebounder if you consider him your starting center with the burden of starting minutes. Could he have sustained those numbers if he played starter minutes ? IDK. Can role bench players expand their production when they become starters? Not in this case, it seems. Come playoffs his role regressed.

I do know against Detroit, etc, and when it counts, he was the worst starter on the floor. 7rpg is not enough from a starting center in that era and it does not really matter how many minutes he played because a true starting center plays at least 33 mins.

Even if he averaged four more rpg in his career I still have 40 Pacers ahead of him that deserve the honor more.

[Ballings7]

Collison deserves this.. was a big part of the Sonics and Thunder playoff teams, and always played hard every night, and knew his role quite well.

I love it. I've been saying for awhile now that Jeff Foster's jersey should be retired by the Pacers.

Of the same ilk as Nick Collison.

Totally agreed. Love me some Jeff Foster.

One of the best defensive and finishing role-playing bigs of all-time as far as I'm concerned -- overlooked and underrated from some of the bigger names in that regard, for sure. Smart and solid passer, too! And from what I understand he was a big part of Indiana community.

Also, not necessarily all about numbers with Jeff, rebounding, and defense in general... its HOW you rebound, HOW you defend, and the consistency in effort, and being a factor there. Jeff was a total workhorse on both ends, used his agility and size well, and did lots of little things to make an impact on the game.

BTW, Jeff Foster is 5th all-time in career offensive rebound percentage and 12th all-time in career total rebound percentage.

Make of it what you will...

Didn't even realize this, but not surprising!

[Maf]

I admit I thought what the hell? Nick Collison? Are you serious?

But I guess only thing OKC fans would rather see hanging from their rafters is Kevin Durant. I don't mean his jersey. Literally Kevin Durant.

[swyftdahoe]

This is a team's decision and doesn't need to be anything about numbers at all. Nick Collison was a constant for OKC. Dude was, I'm sure, quite the leader for that team for over a decade. If they say he deserves it, he deserves it. I'm sure most of his ex-teammates and fans would agree.

[ChuckChilly]

I think this is dumb to be honest. You know how many players in the league would stay with one team their whole career if they didnt get traded or the team didnt want them anymore?

I wouldn't mind it at all if it was some sort of symbolic off the court retiring, but having his name up in the rafters is just ridiculous.

Why doesn't Rik Smits have his jersey retired then if its just a tenure thing.

Don't you think that it's telling that Collision never was traded and was always on the Thunder roster? How many role players can you name that stayed their entire career with one team for at least 10 years?

Cliff Robinson was on the Portland Trail Blazers for 9 years. Terry Porter was on the Trail Blazers for 10 years. Dale Davis, Pacers for 9 years. Not consecutive, but JJ Barea was with the Dallas Maverick for 10 years. Michael Redd, Bucks for 11 years. Muggsy Bogues 10 years with Charlotte. These are just guys that came to my mind immediately.

He was a solid player that played hard, but lets not pretend that he stayed on the team just because he was loved so much. The fact that he had close to a minimum contract/wage for the past 7 years has a lot to do with that.

[sacking123]

But this doesn't describe Collison, so its not really fitting. He played most every season, and he was pretty good.

Sonics/Thunder combined history:
3rd in games played
9th in minutes
4th in rebounds
6th in blocks

Edit: Also while I'm here 2 awesome Collison things:
1.He wrote a GQ blog piece on being an NBA role player in 2012.
https://www.gq.com/story/the-nick-collison-guest-blog-vol-4-how-to-survive-in-the-nba-when-youre-not-a-superstar

2. He had a pregame handshake with Steven Adams. Adams misses him and air handshook.

https://streamable.com/nj8v8

What do you mean? Rik Smits played for the Pacers for 12 years and had far better stats.

He's probably got a good argument to have it retired on that reasoning, but Collison's cultural contribution was huge. Like Haslem, he's literally called Mr. Thunder, he's the guy you'd associate with their culture over everything.

In the end, these things are done for fans and I don't know of an OKC fan who isn't thrilled for it. After Westbrook he's the most beloved player they've got. I think that's the real determining factor Smits didn't have.

A lot of people are missing the reasons why OKC are retiring his number IMO.
The impact he has had on the playing group and organisation as a whole must have been a lot bigger than what the general public know. OKC fans obviously know more.
People throwing up names of players saying they have been with x team for this long. This isn’t a longevity thing alone, it’s a lot of things rolled into a special package of a guy that’s meant a huge amount (obviously) to the franchise. He could have gone to a different team or two over his time due to a lower role on the court in OKC, however he didn’t. He made his contributions in other areas, being a role model athlete, mentor and brilliant in the community.
There really aren’t many in the history of the game (Haslem is one) that have contributed to a franchise, sacrificed their own personal game for the betterment of the team etc. and not every franchise has had a Haslem/Collison.


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[Priest24]

Can we start a thread where we name a thousand players that deserve their number retired before this guy?

You should totes do it.

I don't think I could deal with another Jeff Foster mention.

[Jason_Todd]

A Hall of Famer right there. At the same level as Jim Mcilvine or Greg Ostertag. GOATS.

[Winsome Gerbil]

Long long time ago the first of these I can remember is when Brad Davis got his number retired by the Mavs. But I had absolutely no idea Nick Collison was considered that level of locker room leader/Mr.Thunder.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I think this is dumb to be honest. You know how many players in the league would stay with one team their whole career if they didnt get traded or the team didnt want them anymore?

I wouldn't mind it at all if it was some sort of symbolic off the court retiring, but having his name up in the rafters is just ridiculous.

Why doesn't Rik Smits have his jersey retired then if its just a tenure thing.

But this doesn't describe Collison, so its not really fitting. He played most every season, and he was pretty good.

Sonics/Thunder combined history:
3rd in games played
9th in minutes
4th in rebounds
6th in blocks

Edit: Also while I'm here 2 awesome Collison things:
1.He wrote a GQ blog piece on being an NBA role player in 2012.
https://www.gq.com/story/the-nick-collison-guest-blog-vol-4-how-to-survive-in-the-nba-when-youre-not-a-superstar

2. He had a pregame handshake with Steven Adams. Adams misses him and air handshook.

https://streamable.com/nj8v8

Watch on YouTube

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[badass316]

Jesus.

They really should leave the jersey retirements to significant players. Just reading through the first few pages you have people suggesting every life long player should have their jersey retired even if they were scrubs. Nick Collison for the majority of of his career was average, if not below average.

[PerkinsFor3]

Jesus.

They really should leave the jersey retirements to significant players. Just reading through the first few pages you have people suggesting every life long player should have their jersey retired even if they were scrubs. Nick Collison for the majority of of his career was average, if not below average.

Agree here. For one, there is no shared history between the Sonics and Thunder. And if you're gonna retire a jersey because someone is 'Boss of Screens' and Mr. Thunder, more power to you, but if you're planning to build up a true history over the next few decades, imagine how that Collison jersey will look next to true legendary numbers. Don't get me wrong, I love Nick and players like him. If that's the standard you want your franchise to set, you can start retiring decent roleplayers. Don't be surprised if he's going to be mentioned earlier than the Hornaceks (Utah, 2× NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (1998, 2000)) and McMillans (2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1994, 1995) & NBA steals leader (1994)) who're usually mentioned among the worst retired numbers. They both did more as actual players. And as a Sonics fan, I've always understood McMillan had been great for the Sonics, but he never was retired jersey great.