Fan favorite Collison gives Thunder a hand when he can
He loves the cheers. Nick Collison hears them, though not as often as he once did. When the guy they call Mr. Thunder checks into a game at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the roar will ring your ears, and the 37-year-old Collison couldn’t tune it out if he tried.
He always hears the cheers. Sometimes — as when Collison checked in Saturday night against the Spurs, in the fourth quarter of a still-contested game — they mean a little more.
“It was more fun to be able to get in the game (at) a little more important time of the game,” Collison said. “Sometimes when I get in and they go nuts — I really appreciate it, but sometimes I feel like the walkon in college games when everyone’s yelling at you to shoot the ball when the kids get in at the end of the game in blowouts.”
That happened late in last Thursday’s win against the lowly Phoenix Suns.
On Saturday, though, Collison checked in at the 10:06 mark of the fourth quarter, and a possession later, the Spurs were within 10 points of a Thunder team that mostly had controlled the game.
And Collison — playing mostly because starting center Steven Adams was sidelined with a sprained left ankle — helped Oklahoma City keep its cushion. He scored seven
points and two rebounds in 6 minutes, running pick-and-roll to perfection with Russell Westbrook.
“It’s very, very great to see, because he’s obviously put in the work, but he’s always ready to go,” Westbrook said. “Tonight, he got his number called and he answered, just like he does every time.”
The call rarely comes these days.
Collison has appeared in 12 games this season, and only two were decided by single-digit margins. Typically he’s on the floor when the Thunder is up or down big.
In theory, though, he could add to those numbers in the next two days. Oklahoma City will play two of the league’s worst teams to open the week, hosting Sacramento on Monday and visiting Atlanta on Tuesday.
And with Adams questionable for Monday, Collison might even play in the teeth of the game.
If he does, he’s hopeful he can do his share.
“If you’re not in the rotation, sometimes people think you can’t play anymore or you can’t play at all,” Collison said. “But there’s a lot of guys in this league who can play. They just don’t get always opportunities. There’s only 10 or 11 guys who can (get minutes). So I understand why I’m not playing, but I also am confident if I get in there that I can still be an NBA player.”
But he can’t be one forever.
In his 14th NBA season — all of them, famously, with the Sonics/Thunder organization — Collison admits he can’t “jump as high as I used to.” By the middle of his sixth minute on Saturday, he looked gassed.
The end of his playing career is nearing and with it a decision about his future. There’s been considerable speculation that he’ll remain with the organization in some capacity, but on Saturday, Collison said he doesn’t know what the future holds and won’t consider it until after the season.
For now he said, “I’m still a player here.” On occasion he still can look like a pretty good one.
“It feels good to play well,” Collison said. “I still really enjoy playing. It’s fun when you do get a chance. I know it’s a great opportunity to be able to play in the league and to be here. I realize how good it is to be an NBA player. But when you can get in and actually play and play well, it’s a lot more fun.”