Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins has put plenty of people on the wrong end of a highlight but one seems to still hold some resentment. The 6-foot-9 forward’s high-flying ways even translated to his recent Drew League debut, though, his team that also featured Trae Young was upset.
There is also the matter of a picture of Collins’ swollen finger visible on the Hawks’ Instagram account that was promptly removed. Collins missed 23 of the final 27 regular-season games dealing with that finger as well as a foot injury.
He returned for the postseason but the Hawks were still ultimately eliminated in five games by the Miami Heat.
That wasn’t what drew Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid‘s attention, though.
John Collins put Joel Embiid on a t-shirt and it still stings for the big man
Collins finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double which is nice for a casual run which, naturally, this event was for Collins and Young. But the former also shot just 6-for-16 from the floor (which is honestly quite irrelevant) and became the first person in the Drew League’s 49-year history and also got dunked on during his team’s loss.
Even with that, it was a video of Collins getting a taste of his own medicine that earned a like from “Troel” Embiid.
Perhaps Collins’ most memorable dunk in his career to this point came on Embidd in the second round of the playoffs last season. Collins went up for a lob with Embiid in a precarious position winding up in this iconic moment.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1406059232198225922
Collins later showed up to his media availability wearing a t-shirt with his now-famous jam printed on the front and sunglasses.
Legendary. pic.twitter.com/wByshvZ6Fb
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 21, 2021
One fan correctly pointed out that Embiid has also put Collins on a poster before, insinuating it was even better because it was head up. But a poster is a poster especially with the Embiid reeling as he did following Collins’ slam and the tension between the two.
The Hawks also took the higher-seeded Sixers out in seven games to earn an Eastern Conference Finals berth before Embiid has in his career.
That would seem to make the score 2-0, John Collins.
Embiid is one of the best players in the NBA when healthy and the Sixers are one of the better teams. But Collins’ dunk and the Hawks’ win are still clearly under the big man’s skin. Interestingly, a player who prides himself on being a troll the way that Embiid does is still bugged by one more than a year after the fact.
For the Hawks, all that matter is that Collins is healthy enough to put opponents on posters when the regular season rolls around.