SEATTLE – As anniversaries go, this is one Nick Collison would rather forget.
And, to a large extent, he has.
Asked recently if he knew what happened on Feb. 13, 2004, Collison was initially stumped. Only after some prompting did he remember that it was exactly one year ago he was in New York for the second of two shoulder surgeries. That surgical twinbill – the first, on his left shoulder, occurred Oct. 14, 2003; the second was on his right shoulder – erased his entire 2003-04 NBA season.
This part he recalls quite clearly.
”What I remember most is the boredom,” said the Seattle SuperSonics forward. ”Every day I would go to the practice facility, and the team would be practicing and I would just do rehab. That stuff is real monotonous.
”And when the team would travel I would stay home and do rehab in the morning, and then I wouldn’t really have anything else to do the rest of the day. So it was a very frustrating time.”
The surgeries were intended to tighten the ligaments in Collison’s shoulders. Whether due to some unfortunate heredity or maybe years of rugged basketball, and perhaps a little of both, the ligaments were unusually loose, which left the bones of his upper arms prone to slipping in the shoulder sockets. He had some difficulty at the University of Kansas, where he played four years and was college basketball’s Player of the Year as a senior in 2002-03, and the problems continued after he came to Seattle as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft.
In training camp last season, Collison’s left shoulder slipped several times – in medical terms, a subluxation, which is essentially a partial dislocation – and it was determined that he needed surgery. Later, an MRI revealed a similar condition in his other shoulder. Although the right shoulder was slightly more stable, it was decided that a second surgery would be beneficial.
Looking ahead to two operations – done four months apart so he would always have the use of one arm – Collison admits feeling ”a little fear, because I didn’t know what it would be like when I came back. I was told that I’d have all my motion, but I was still concerned that it would not really be right and that I wouldn’t be able to shoot.”
Throughout last season, Collison was like a shadowy figure lurking around the team. For several weeks after each surgery his arm was in a sling. Later, he would show up for practice, but would remain in the weight room by himself as his teammates did their work on the court. He joined them for the team picture, which is about as close as he came to feeling like a genuine part of the squad from beginning to end.
”Everybody was great to me and tried to include me, but it’s just not the same when you’re not playing,” he said. ”I kind of felt like a spectator.”
Other than easy shooting workouts on his own, Collison did not return to the floor in earnest until July, when he joined Seattle’s summer league team at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City. By the start of training camp in October, he was pronounced fit for the upcoming NBA season.
And what a season it has been, both for Collison and the Sonics. Seattle is perhaps the league’s biggest surprise in 2004-05, bursting to a 35-13 record heading into today’s clash with Dallas at KeyArena. The Sonics, who have an increasingly solid grip on first place in the NBA’s new Northwest Division, owe their success largely to the development of young players like Rashard Lewis, Vlade Radmanovic, Reggie Evans, Luke Ridnour and, of course, Collison. Lewis, Evans and Ridnour are starters, while Radmanovic and Collison have helped give Seattle what is perhaps the best bench among the league’s 30 teams.
In a 115-107 victory over Sacramento on Thursday, Collison had probably his best game of the season with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals while matched against Kings star forward Chris Webber for most of his 23 minutes. Those are good numbers, but not great, and yet time and again when Seattle needed a big play – whether a basket, rebound or some determined on-the-ball defense – Collison obliged.
In fact, he does not amass impressive statistics. Collison is ninth on the team in scoring at 4.5 points a game and sixth in rebounding at 3.8 (he is third in rebounds per minute played at .271 to Reggie Evans at .393 and Danny Fortson at .340, two of the NBA’s leaders), and yet none of this matters to Seattle’s coaches and front office folks. All of them love Collison – albeit quietly – because he has the kind of sound, selfless approach that is vital to a winning team.
”Nick doesn’t play for numbers,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan. ”He just plays the game. He understands that he’s not the first, second or sometimes even the third (scoring) option. We need our young guys to do things to create opportunities for Ray (Allen), Rashard and Vlade, and the scrapping and the hustle are what we need from Nick. The fact that he’s doing that, and that he doesn’t mind doing that, makes everything work smoothly.
”Plus he has a good feel for the game and for situations that happen out on the floor. In college, he played in a lot of big games. The NBA (atmosphere) is not too different from college when you’re playing on a stage like the University of Kansas, so he’s been there. He’s had the experience of playing in tight games and playing under that type of pressure.”
In time, McMillan went on, Collison will become more of a go-to player in Seattle’s offense. For now, though, he is on the same learning curve as Radmanovic was a few years ago and Lewis was a few years before that.
”I basically don’t expect anything from rookies,” he said. ”I know how difficult it is coming in from college and playing NBA basketball. This is a different league, so if you get something good from a rookie, that’s great. But if he has a sub-par, year, you also understand. Basically, this is just an opportunity for rookies to get a feel for the league and for you to get a feel for them.
”But Nick has shown the potential to be a good player in this league.”
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