Jason Collier

Jason Jeffrey Collier (September 8, 1977 – October 15, 2005) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jason Collier
Personal information
Born(1977-09-08)September 8, 1977
Springfield, Ohio, US
DiedOctober 15, 2005(2005-10-15) (aged 28)
Cumming, Georgia, US
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High schoolCatholic Central (Springfield, Ohio)
College
NBA draft2000: 1st round, 15th overall pick
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career2000–2005
PositionCenter
Number52, 40
Career history
2000–2003Houston Rockets
2003–2004Fayetteville Patriots
2004–2005Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Collier led Catholic Central High School of his hometown Springfield, Ohio, to the 1996 Ohio State Basketball Championship, for which he was named 1996 Ohio Mr. Basketball.

College career

After transferring from Indiana, Collier completed his college career at Georgia Tech.

Professional career

Collier was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 15th overall pick of the 2000 NBA draft. He was traded on draft day to the Houston Rockets in exchange for their pick, Joel Przybilla. He then played for the Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks, averaging 5.6 points per game over his career.

With the Hawks, Collier dropped a career-high 22 points on March 12, 2004, in a 138–124 win against the Washington Wizards. Out of the 151 career games Collier played, this was one of only three times where he scored 20 or more points. Collier's final NBA game was played on April 20, 2005, in a 86–110 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers (this was also the Hawks' final game of the 2004–2005 season). Although he was Atlanta's starting center for that game, he only played for nine minutes and had two points and one rebound on 1-4 field goal shooting.

Death and legacy

During the NBA off-season, Collier died suddenly at the age of 28 on October 15, 2005, in Cumming, Georgia. His autopsy indicated that he died because of a "sudden heart rhythm disturbance caused by an abnormally enlarged heart."[1] Georgia's chief medical examiner, Dr. Kris Sperry, said Collier's heart "was above the accepted limits, even for a man of his size", and said the organ was about one and a half times the size it should have been.[2] It was reported that he experienced shortness of breath before losing consciousness. Medical treatment was performed by emergency medical technicians, but Collier died en route to the hospital.

The Hawks wore permanent black shoulder patches on their uniforms to honor Collier.[3] In his honor, the NBA Development League, on which Collier played for a year in the Fayetteville Patriots and was named to the All-NBA Development League Team, unveiled in the following season the Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award.[4]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000–01 Houston 2309.7.380.000.7081.6.3.1.13.1
2001–02 Houston 25214.6.432.000.7503.3.4.2.24.2
2002–03 Houston 1338.0.472.0001.0002.2.1.2.12.8
2003–04 Atlanta 201627.3.479.250.7885.6.9.6.611.3
2004–05 Atlanta 704413.5.463.429.6762.6.3.2.25.7
Career 1516514.4.455.350.7382.9.3.2.25.6

See also

References
  1. "Sports Shorts: Autopsy shows Collier had enlarged heart". The Technique. 2005-11-04. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  2. "Autopsy shows Hawks' Collier had enlarged heart". ESPN.com. November 1, 2005.
  3. "Autopsy reveals Hawks' Collier had heart problem". ESPN.com. November 1, 2005.
  4. "Fort Worth's Ime Udoka Wins 2005-06 Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016.
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