The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ex-Hawks forward Collins returns ready to compete
Things might have looked and felt different for former Hawks forward John Collins when the Utah Jazz faced the Hawks on Tuesday night at State Farm Arena.
The NBA big man suited up in a Hawks uniform for 364 games over six seasons. Now in his seventh season in the NBA, he dons a different uniform.
It’s a day Collins has anticipated for a long time, since the Hawks traded him to the Jazz in June and then the season began in October. Tuesday’s game was the first of two meetings this season between the Hawks and Jazz, and the wait carried a little anxiety and nerves.
“Just anxious to get out there and play, see my old guys and see some familiar faces,” Collins said at the Jazz’s shootaround Tuesday morning. “Happy to be back, but I’m focused. I’m ready to go.”
When he got into the arena, a few of those nerves melted as Collins felt a sense of familiarity.
“It’s a first coming in on that side of the arena on the opposing bus,” he said. “I didn’t really know how to feel. Just trying to go through it and get on the court. I knew once I got on the court and got some of that emotion out on the court, I knew I would feel a lot better.”
It’s been his focus during the days leading to Tuesday’s meeting with his former team. He’s tried to remove as much emotion as possible that could get stirred up in his return to the city where he grew up as an professional athlete.
It’s also a team where he had a lot of success including an NBA All-Rookie second-team nod, as well as a career year during the 2019-20 season that saw him average 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 40.1% from 3. It also is the place where he helped lead the Hawks to the franchise’s second appearance in the Eastern Conference finals and first since the 2015-16 season.
Though Collins, who entered averaging 14.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists this season, looked back on his accomplishments with the Hawks, he remained adamant that he kept his focus on business.
“Obviously, I have a lot of fond memories here, and I got a lot of love in this arena but I’m trying to come to work,” he said.
Collins said he had no feelings of making Tuesday a “revenge game.” That’s not how he envisioned the game. “It’s love for me,” he said. “I don’t have any feelings of revenge on any of the people that I’m going to see on the court ... Not going to lay down but revenge, it’s not my thing and I’m coming out to play basketball and try to win and have fun.”
Collins looked forward to facing former teammates such as Clint Capela and Jalen Johnson. While Collins would also love to compete against center Onyeka Okongwu, the Hawks have ruled him out with a big left toe sprain for the next week and a half until he is reevaluated.
“There was a lot of good memories, a lot of practices and flights, buses, all of the sort,” Collins said. “So shout out to Big O, J.J., Clint, those are my brothers . ... I know we’ve learned a lot from each other. So they know I’m going to come play hard.”
Collins also looked forward to seeing the Hawks fans who embraced him.
“I’m going to love it,” Collins said. “I like to show love where love is shown back to me. The city of Atlanta has obviously done that big-time for me. So I love every single one of the fans that supported me and had my back through my time here. So, much love to them, to all the fans here in the ‘A’ and try to continue to put on a show for them wherever I am.”