Jason Jeffrey Collier (September 8, 1977 – October 15, 2005) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA).

High school career

Collier led Catholic Central High School of his hometown

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northe ...

to the 1996 Ohio State Basketball Championship, for which he was named 1996 Ohio Mr. Basketball.

College career

After transferring from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, Collier completed his college career at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

Professional career

Collier was drafted by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

with the 15th overall pick of the 2000 NBA Draft. He was traded on draft day to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

in exchange for their pick, Joel Przybilla. He then played for the Rockets and the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

, 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 FG shooting.

Death and legacy

During the NBA off-season, Collier died suddenly at the age of 28 on October 15, 2005 in

Cumming, Georgia Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States, and the sole incorporated area in the county. It is a suburban city, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In the 2020 census, the population is 7,318, up from 5,430 in 2010. S ...

. His autopsy indicated that he died because of a "sudden heart rhythm disturbance caused by an abnormally

enlarged heart Cardiomegaly (sometimes megacardia or megalocardia) is a medical condition in which the heart is enlarged. As such, it is more commonly referred to simply as "having an enlarged heart". It is usually the result of underlying conditions that make t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

'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. It was reported that he experienced shortness of breath before losing consciousness. Medical treatment was performed by

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics a ...

s, but Collier died en route to the hospital. The Hawks wore permanent black shoulder patches on their uniforms to honor Collier. In his honor, the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

, on which Collier played for a year in the

Fayetteville Patriots The Fayetteville Patriots were an NBA Development League team based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States. Its logo design features a bald eagle's head and a basketball in the middle of a capital letter "P" with stars and stripes filling ...

and was named to the

All-NBA Development League Team The All-NBA G League Team is an annual NBA G League (G League) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every G League season. The voting is conducted by the league's head coaches. The team has been selected in every season of the ...

, unveiled in the following season the

Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award The Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award is an annual NBA G League award given since the league's inaugural National Basketball Developmental League season. The award honors the player who best represents the ideals of character and conduct on and of ...

.Fort Worth’s Ime Udoka Wins 2005-06 Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

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References

External links

*
Remembering Jason Collier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Jason 1977 births 2005 deaths American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Ohio Centers (basketball) Fayetteville Patriots players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players Houston Rockets players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Springfield, Ohio