Amick: **But are you hoping that one thing or another happens?**
Collins: I don’t give a damn honestly, you know what I mean?
A: **How’s that possible?**
C: What do you mean? I play basketball every day, you know what I mean? I come in and I play basketball, and whatever happens, happens because I don’t control that side. I don’t have any control over any decisions that get made, where I am and where I play. I don’t have any control over that. I can say, ‘Hey, I want to do this and I wanna do that,’ and they can just do whatever they feel is fair. You saw it with Kevin Durant, right? He’s begging for trade, and Brooklyn is like, ‘Nah.’ Not saying that I’m Kevin Durant, but it’s just the mentality of ‘Yeah, you can say whatever, you can make a public scene, you can do whatever (and it won’t matter).’
Your annual John Collins passive-aggressive interview with The Athletic is out now! You can get an express copy if your team trades for him.
[Source (Paywall)](https://theathletic.com/4067336/2023/01/09/john-collins-trade-rumors/)
by iksnet
17 Comments
Collins: I don’t give a damn (about contracts) honestly, you know what I mean?
Blow it up
He’s accepted that he gets to play basketball for millions, but also will be treated like an asset nothing more, nothing less. Kinda tuff, but that’s the deal in the contract
Sam Amick really wants to get quotes. He’s pushing these players.
I mean he is under contract so good on the team for not getting pressured to do a deal that they don’t see as enough value just because a player makes a public scene
There’s nuance to this, the draft and restricted free agency system make it really hard for young players to choose where they play.
But KD signed a contract of his own free will. He is a terrible example.
He’s handling the constant rumors as best as he can. I think the hawks need better coaching before they make any more major trades. Wish we had improved our coaching last off season
Nobody is forcing anyone to enter into a long-term deal.
If you sign a long-term contract, the team isn’t in the wrong for wanting to retain you should they choose to. If KD didn’t want to be in that situation he shouldn’t have signed for 4 years.
Yeah that’s what an nba contract is you dum dum.
Isn’t that how contracts work? When it ends he has all the control he wants on where he gets to play and the Hawks can’t say “Nah.”
Some of these motherfuckers are so entitled. Nobody forces you to sign any of these contracts. Teams don’t have any obligation to move you if they don’t think it’s the best for their team. If you want control over where you want to play, sign one year deals and do whatever you want. But they want to sign these big extensions and then also want the power to tell their teams to fuck off and do what’s best for them personally.
KD didn’t really make a scene though, which is interesting
ITT: as usual redditors not reading the linked article (or even the *single fucking paragraph* of quoted text) and just reacting based on the title.
Lots of comments (not all, but lots so far in the first hour) here seem to be reading this as Collins being entitled but the full quote makes it clear he’s just using KD as an example of why he doesn’t care or fret or think about it because he doesn’t have any power over the situation so why worry.
I’m so confused why the hawks don’t work on offense through John collins ….then you can kick out for open outside shot….instead they play opposite
I don’t fault Collins for saying this but I think the hawks need to just move him. Having one of your better players say he literally doesn’t care if he’s on the team isn’t going to help morale.
I feel for Collins man. On the right team he’s putting up 20/10. He’s being severely underused.
Also watching some Hawks games has made me start to question a bit about Dejounte’s playmaking ability. I know he’s gets assists, but I feel like he’s more of a guy that when he’s playing PG and holding onto the ball he can find the guy, but if asked to swing the ball and do the extra pass I’m not sure he’s the one.
It can if you do the Vince Carter and play ass whole year until you get traded.
KD is a baller tho..