John Collins shares why his monster dunk on Embiid is the most meaningful bucket of his career
The NBA is full of athletic phenoms and spectacular dunkers, but one name that is amongst the best is John Collins. The Hawks big man is suitably nicknamed "The Baptist," as he is known for often viciously dunking on players and putting them on posters. One of Collins' most memorable dunks is the one over Joel Embiid in last year's playoffs. Aside from looking amazing, the dunk had some personal flavor added between the two. So it's no surprise Collins picked this as his favorite one amongst all the other amazing dunks.
"My Most Meaningful Two Points"
The Hawks high-flyer stopped by JJ Redick's podcast and shared numerous interesting stories from his career. Naturally, the question of John's favorite in-game dunk came up, and Collins had no doubt which was the #1:
"It's probably the one on Joel in the playoffs. We were talking a lot. It was a little buildup on that one. Probably my most meaningful two points on anybody in the heart of the playoffs."
John Collins, ">The Old Man and the Three
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Last year's Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series between the Sixers and the Hawks was a real nail-biter. Despite going into the series as underdogs, the Hawks led by Trae Young and John Collins took the Sixers to seven games, where they eventually upset Embiid and the crew on their own court. That led to the complete breakdown of the Sixers and the Ben Simmons situation.
Game 6 in Atlanta was also very chippy and intense. Embiid and Collins already had history in years prior, dunking on each other and getting into altercations. The playoff intensity brought out the fire out of the two, with Embiid and Collins getting into it later in the same game after a cheap elbow by the Sixers center.
The Sixers won the game, but the Hawks got the last laugh, stealing Game 7 in front of Sixers fans. Collins added salt to the wound in the post-game conference, wearing a shirt of the dunk. He also shared how that happened:
"Shoutout to Scottie C... he's our team photographer. What happened is, I was walking into the arena, and he texted me and was like, 'I got this shirt for you, I want you to come check it out.' I didn't get a chance to see it... he was traveling with us to Philly. After the game we won, thankfully, he brings me the shirt... But anyway, I get the shirt, and I'm like, 'Dang what do what do I do.' Because the game is already over... But I got media. I have media so I'm like bet... Put the shirt on... I go in there, put the shades on and you know, the rest is history."
John Collins, ">The Old Man and the Three
John Collins and his Hawks were one of the most pleasant surprises in last year's postseason, and everybody expected them to take a leap forward, but this year has been somewhat underwhelming. The Hawks are sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 14-16 record. There is a lot of time to turn things around, but they will need Collins to raise his level of game. 17.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg are not bad numbers by any measure, but if the Hawks want to go back to last year's quality, Collins will need to give us even more poster dunks and more consistent performances.
