FILE - In this Wednesday, April 11, 2018 file photo, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, ... [+]
The Oklahoma City Thunder, although the NBA’s newest franchise, has an extremely successful history. With a handful of future Hall of Famers representing Oklahoma City in a Thunder jersey since the inaugural 2008-09 season, they’ve consistently been one of the league’s top teams with an insane amount of talent in a very short period of time.
Perhaps one of the most influential players in the Thunder’s history is Nick Collison. For now, he is the only player in Oklahoma City history to get their jersey retired.
Where is Collison now? What does he think about the current Oklahoma City Thunder team and their future? I had the opportunity to spend some time speaking with him to dive into some of these questions.
What exactly are you doing now with Sam Presti and the Thunder front office?
“Yeah, I guess I’m working with the front office, I’m mostly learning. I come into OKC a couple times a month and just meet with the team, meet with the coaches, but I’m mostly doing a lot of learning. There’s a lot I knew as a player, but on the other side there’s so much to learn. They’ve been great about opening the doors and trying to teach me a lot about the CBA, some of the stuff they’re doing with analytics, how they try to build the team, build the program. I was there since the very beginning, the first day, but there’s a lot that goes into it that you don’t realize as a player.
It seems fitting that after being the first member of the Thunder to get his jersey retired that he begins a position within the organization. Given the nickname ‘Mr. Thunder’ by Oklahoma City fans, it’s impressive that Collison continues to make a positive impact on the franchise even years later.
What was it like on the night of your jersey retirement?
“Well for me I just felt very fortunate. To be able to find a home, a place for a role player like myself who spent the majority of my career coming off the bench, it’s rare to be able to find a home like that and it really worked out for me in Oklahoma City, and Seattle before that. For me it was just really cool to celebrate all of those good times with all of the close friends I made on the staff and the players I played with and all of my family”.
It truly was one of the most unique jersey retirements in NBA history. As a bench player the majority of his career, especially in Oklahoma City, Collison started just 55 of the 602 games he played in a Thunder uniform (40 of which were in the inaugural season in Oklahoma City). This goes to show the impact he made as a leader on and off the court, assisting in the development of young guys like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant.
What do you miss almost about playing? Would you go back to playing (hypothetically) if you could?
[Laughing] “Well, the shipped sailed on me playing. I’ve played once since I retired in my high school’s alumni tournament. My brother is the head coach at the high school and he made me play and it was not a great performance, so I’m definitely done playing. I really like what I’m doing now. I miss it for sure though, I miss being with the guys. I tell people I really miss playing like it was 2011 or 2012 when I really had a lot of juice left in the tank and was playing big minutes in playoff games.” Collison would go on to say, “Father Time is undefeated and we all have to move on. I’m really fortunate to be able to stay with the organization, like I said learn a lot, kind of explore this next phase of my life and be able to still be connected to basketball and connected to the team and it’s a great opportunity to learn from I think one of the best front offices in the league. I love basketball and it’s been a big part of my life and it’s great that I get to continue it”.
After ten seasons in a Thunder uniform, Collison finally decided to hang it up. Since then, he mentioned he’d only played in one game of basketball — and it didn’t go well. Retiring at 37 years old is impressive in itself, however, as many players do not have a career as long as Collison did. As he mentioned, he is getting to learn under Sam Presti, who leads one of the best front offices in the entire NBA.
You’ve built some great relationships with many players, but was there a guy or a couple of guys you felt you were closest with throughout your NBA career?
“Yeah, I think the NBA is in some ways like any other job where you kind of lose touch with people when you don’t play and people move on. But then you have your other people you were closer with and I definitely have guys I’ve stayed in touch with. Royal Ivey is a really good friend of mine, Luke Ridnour from my rookie year in Seattle, guys I played with at Kansas, Nazr Mohammed, you know I just saw Kevin Durant in Brooklyn, I’m sure I’ll stay close with Russell [Westbrook]. It’s just those guys you were with so long and you develop a bond and it’s just a great part of being able to play, particularly in one place, for so long”.
Collison makes a point here that the common fan doesn’t think about. Playing in the NBA, while it sounds glamorous, is still a job. He refers to this when discussing how relationships have come and gone, but some stick out the most. As I mentioned above in regards to his leadership and development of young, key players within the franchise, it goes to show how important this was as he is still close with Westbrook and Durant even today.
What were your initial thoughts when the team moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City? Since you’ve seen this first hand, how has the city grown around the Thunder and their impact on the community?
“When the team moved it was very difficult. I liked where I was. It was the only city I had lived in after college as a young player and I hadn’t been traded or anything at that point so it was difficult to move at first. I felt for the city of Seattle and their fans. When we moved though, we moved to a great place and we moved to a place that welcomed us with open arms and incredible fan support from the beginning. The organization was in flux at that time with a lot of changeover in players but they definitely treated us very well and pretty quickly we were able to get some new young talent and we worked extremely hard in those years with a young team and started to climb up and it was a great experience to be a part of all that. The city has been great to us. Oklahoma City itself has been fun to see develop. It’s an entirely different place, especially downtown and midtown, it’s an entirely different place than when we got there. So, it’s been cool to see the effect the team and the city has had on the community”.
There’s no doubt the Thunder changed Oklahoma City forever. All it takes is driving through downtown or Bricktown to see how many local businesses are having success. Since 2008, the city has seen so much development and a large part of that is the Thunder’s presence in Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Is this a different version of Chris Paul or is he just in the right system in Oklahoma City?
“Well I think he’s incredibly smart. I’ve always known he was a smart player, playing against him but what I’ve known from watching him a lot closer is how well he understands his game and understands what he can do and what he is capable of. He really understands how to manage the group and he can manage the other guys. He knows he can kind of take inventory of what’s going on throughout the game, pick his spots, get everyone involved, and knows everything he will be able to have late in the game in the fourth quarter. A lot of the time that’s him being able to be more aggressive coming down the stretch. I think him being able to manage games and keep us in so many games and then have a chance here at the end where we’ve played really well late in games. I think so much of that is him and his understanding of the game.” He would go on to say, “with so much experience it’s been great to have him around. He’s been a pro from the start. It’s not been easy for him getting traded and coming into a new situation either so I think in the organization we’ve been very appreciative of him and how he’s approached things. I talk to people on the staff and they say he’s great and great to have around. It’s been fun to watch. It’s a good group of guys that are grinding out a lot of games and playing hard and I’m happy for everybody that they’ve been able to get off to a good start this year and I’m happy for the fans too because it’s a fun team to watch”.
Collison has high praise for Chis Paul as time after time he mentions his basketball IQ and how smart he is. He also gives props to Paul for the way he handled the trade to Oklahoma City and his attitude from the beginning.
How important is Chris Paul to the development of young guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
“Young players usually need opportunity and Shai’s been able to get that. He’s been able to play a lot of minutes and he’s been able to do a lot of things. But to also have someone there who’s a veteran who can help and can pull him aside and also lead by example and also have success with the team and be in meaningful games — I think that’s the ideal situation for a young player. You want to let young guys have a lot of opportunity to build confidence but you also don’t want them to form bad habits and play in ways because winning isn’t as big of a deal when you’re on a young team, a rebuilding team sometimes. So, I think this has been a really great situation for him and like I said Chris deserves credit there too for his approach. He hasn’t tried to do anything to not let Shai reach his full potential. He’s really trying to help him out and help all of the other players out”.
This is great insight on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is having a breakout year in just his second NBA season. Not only was he given a great opportunity, but he’s also got one of the best point guards in NBA history as a mentor. Playing alongside Paul every night as well as having him around at practice and in the locker room seems to already be paying dividends for Gilgeous-Alexander’s development.
The Thunder have been a surprising team this year at 7th in the Western Conference. Outside of stats and watching games, what do you think are things going on behind the scenes that makes them such a good team?
“I think we still have good players. We’ve got a really nice group of some veteran guys. Our young guys have stepped up and played hard and been willing to learn. I think it says a lot about the organization and the coaches to be able to have really big changes but still expect a lot out of our guys day to day. Building teams is about the draft and the moves that you make to get the players but it’s equally about what you do when you’re in the building and the development of the day to day so I think the coaches deserve some credit too and front office and everybody for getting guys that would fit together. It’s been a fun start to the season. We don’t know how it will end up but I think everybody is doing their job right now”.
Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan is certainly an NBA Coach of the Year candidate. Most impressive is the fact that he flipped the narrative on having three starting-caliber point guards being a logjam at the position to them being efficient together as statistically the top trio in the NBA. Collison mentions Donovan deserves credit for the surprising success so far this season as well as gives props to the front office and the players for simply doing their jobs.
