A one-man wrecking crew back in college, Atlanta Hawks rookie John Collins feels that he has a chip on his shoulder heading into his first year in the NBA. Collins was drafted 19th overall by the Hawks in the 2017 NBA Draft, but if you ask for his opinion, he'll say he should've been taken off the board way earlier.
In an interview with NBA.com's David Aldridge, the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon delivered this confident quote:
“I wanted to prove that I should have went higher,” the rookie big man said. “Not to say that I’m not happy with the spot I’ve fallen. I’ve fallen to great spot, a great organization, the fans love me. I have a great opportunity here, which I’m blessed for. But I want to show everybody, I feel like I should have gone number one. Maybe that isn’t realistic. But I want to prove to everybody that I should have went higher. I’ve been overlooked most of my career. So I’m kind of happy, because it gives me that same energy, that same fear and drive.”
Collins was even drafted later than fellow big men Zach Collins from Gonzaga and Bam Adebayo from Kentucky. Despite nearly averaging a double-double (19.2 points, 9.8 rebounds per game) last season for Wake Forest in arguably the toughest conference in the nation (including a monster 31-point, 15-rebound performance against the Duke Blue Devils) the short exposure of the Demon Deacons in the NCAA tournament appears to have dampened the Wake Forest product's stock. On the flip side, it arguably increased that of Gonzaga's Collins and Kentucky's Adebayo. Wake Forest was bounced out of the tournament in the First Four by Kansas State.
Collins has started his Prove-It 2017-18 Tour in the Summer League with averages of 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
Follow Us
Subscribe