+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++WORDS DEMARCO WILLIAMS
John Collins’ second season was filled with gravity-defying highs. But spend a few
minutes around the budding Atlanta Hawks star and you see how grounded he is,
and why ATL is gonna want to keep him around for a long, long time.E
VERY MEMBER OF the Atlanta Hawks has a
pregame handshake with John Collins. Some are
pretty basic gestures. Others, like the routine he has
with rookie point guard Trae Young, are nothing short
of performance theatre. Hamilton acts have shorter
run times. But the moves are all in good fun. Collins loves the
camaraderie. Teammates love Collins. It just works.
After you spend a little time in the big man’s world, though,
you begin to notice something—this mutual admiration goes
much further than the Atlanta bench. It extends to the stands,
too. Beyond Young’s No. 11 jersey, our informal survey around
the Hawks’ State Farm Arena during a recent game showed that
Collins’ No. 20 is the second most prevalent one on fans’ backs.
The good vibes carry over to the Hawks’ PR department as
well. Tell them that you’re trying to talk to Collins for a story
and you not only get to come to the locker room for a pregame
chat, but you get a precious extra few minutes alone with him
because, well, it’s John.
After a while, things get interesting, and you start to wonder
exactly how deep this well of well-wishing for the 6-10 gentle
giant really goes. So, you keep digging. You contact Wake Forest
University, where he first got on the national radar. The Demon
Deacons’ 2018-19 season was a rough one so basketball-relat-
ed interview requests in spring probably aren’t a priority. But
remember, we’re talking about John Collins here. The Win-
ston-Salem, NC, school happily makes the connection.
“I think the sky’s the limit [for Collins],” says Randolph
Childress, Wake Forest’s associate head coach and one of the
most beloved players in the school’s history. “My advice to him
is always to stay humble. And he is. I know the kid and I know
how hard he’s going to work. He’s not distracted. He’s incredibly
focused on what he wants to do.”
You keep chatting with Childress and, though he has nothing
but kind words to say about the young man’s spirit and skill set,
he does open up about the things that initially caught his eye
about Collins when he was being recruited. “When I first saw
John,” Childress says, “he was a chubby kid, and he ran up and
down the court on his tippy toes.”
When you go back to the tape of Cardinal Newman High
School (West Palm Beach, FL) games in 2014, sure enough,
there’s JC bodying in the paint with a few extra pounds around
the midsection. But even with the girth, Collins had enough
game to earn Florida Class 4A Player of the Year honors and
Wake’s full attention.“Before he stepped foot on campus [his freshman year],”
Childress adds, “he had already sped up his learning curve with
the physical part because he changed his diet. He had dropped
all of this baby fat. All he had to do was start adding strength.”
Once he started picking up the weights, he also started grab-
bing the accolades. Two-time ACC Player of the Week. ACC’s
Most Improved Player. All-ACC First-Team.
“Coach Randolph was one of the first people who got to see
me in my younger stage,” laughs Collins today. “Like he said,
I was chubby, running around on my toes. I wasn’t a national
prospect or anything. I’m thankful that guys like him saw poten-
tial that I didn’t even see or envision.”
Initially, the Demon Deacons’ fifth-year head coach Danny
Manning was going to be on the same call with Coach Childress,
but his schedule kept getting in the way. All of the reshuffling
could have led Manning to throw his hands up with it all. But
again, anything for John. Coach found five minutes for a call just
before hopping on a flight.
“He had a good feel for the game,” says Manning, of Collins,
who wasn’t even a top-100 recruit back in 2015. “He had good
feet. He had a really good second bounce and he was really ath-
letic. But his body was not where it is now. He still had some...”
Manning pauses. You can almost feel him going through his
mental files trying to find a word to politely call Collins rotund.
What about “chubby,” coach? “Yeah, that’s accurate.”
Relieved, Manning continues. “He made a commitment to
his diet and his body really changed. When he got here to us, he
put in the work in the weight room. He started gaining weight.
He got stronger. His body put him in a position to do even more
things on the court than what he was doing in the past. And he
just took off.”
And he didn’t land until the Hawks grabbed him with the 19th
pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. During his first year in the League,
Collins showed glimpses of greatness—gifted hands, good foot-
work and a generous amount of time above the rim. Collins, who
averaged more than 10 points and 7 boards a night, finished his
first year in the top 10 in field-goal percentage. The well-round-
ed numbers were good enough for a spot on the All-Rookie
Second Team.
Coming into his sophomore season, Collins’ individual expec-
tations were understandably high. Unfortunately, a preseason
knee issue immediately put a halt to the excitement. He would
miss the first 15 games of the ’18-19 tilt.
“I’ve never really dealt with an injury before, ever in myTHE
FUTURE
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