Former Chicago Bulls coach Doug Collins will be one of 13 members inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this summer.
Collins, 72, is best known in Chicago for coaching the Bulls from 1986 to 1989, becoming the first to remain in the job for consecutive seasons with rising star Michael Jordan on the roster. The Bulls won 50 games in 1987-88 and the next season advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 15 years before they lost to the Detroit Pistons.
Despite being fired after that season ahead of the promotion of assistant Phil Jackson, Collins has remained a longtime friend of Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, even flirting with the idea of returning as coach in 2008. Collins signed on as an adviser for the Bulls in 2017, which Reisndorf described as following the “Tex Winter tradition.”
“Doug Collins’ basketball accomplishments are special,” Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Doug, who is a dear friend, also holds a special place in the hearts of Chicago Bulls fans and the franchise as the coach who started the climb toward the great dynasty of the 1990s. … The Bulls congratulate Doug and are proud to have been a part of his legendary Hall of Fame career.”
A native of Christopher, Ill., Collins was a standout at Benton High and Illinois State University before the Philadelphia 76ers selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 1973 draft. He was a four-time All-Star in his eight NBA seasons and played for the silver-medal-winning U.S. team in the 1972 Olympics.
After his retirement in 1981, Collins took up coaching as a college assistant at Penn and Arizona State before the Bulls hired him. He went on to helm the Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers before retiring from coaching in 2013. Throughout his career, he has been featured as a national broadcaster.
The class also includes players Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Seimone Augustus, Dick Barnett and Michele Timms; coaches Bo Ryan, Charles Smith and Harley Redin; owner Herb Simon; and former Lakers, Grizzlies and Warriors executive Jerry West, who was inducted as a player in 1980 and as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team.
The 2024 class will be inducted in an Aug. 17 ceremony in Springfield, Mass.
Then-Bulls coach Doug Collins talks with Michael Jordan during a game on May 1, 1989. (Chicago Tribune)
