Oklahoma City Thunder veteran Nick Collison, a mainstay with the franchise who was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2003, announced Thursday that he is retiring from the NBA after 14 seasons. Collison was the last player drafted by Seattle who was still with the Thunder franchise.
Collison announced the news on ESPN where he bid adieu to his career and the players and personnel he spent it with.
"I started in cold gyms in small towns in Iowa and ended up playing in more than 1,000 games over 15 years in the best league in the world. I've had an incredible run. I'm proud of my career.
"But it's time to go. I'm retiring from competitive basketball."
Collison was drafted 12th overall by the SuperSonics in 2003 after a successful four-year run in Lawrence, Kansas playing for the Jayhawks under Roy Williams.
"My goal was always to make a career out of basketball, and I was blessed to be in the NBA for 15 seasons," Collison said in a statement. "As my time as a basketball player comes to an end, I'm so grateful for my family, friends, teammates, coaches, fans, my hometown, Kansas University, the Thunder organization and everyone else who has helped me along the way. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. It has been an incredible journey that I'm proud of, and it would not have been possible to do it on my own."
Collison, now 37, played in 910 career games where he averaged 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds. His role with the team was greatly diminished over the final few years of his career, however, as father time eventually relegated him to an end-of-bench role.
With Collison retiring, there are now only two active players in the NBA who played for the Sonics franchise: Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.
