In a stunning decision, veteran point guard Darren Collison has announced that he will retire from the NBA. Collison confirmed his retirement in a story for The Undefeated relayed by Marc J. Spears, citing family and religious reasons.
“Basketball has been my life since I was a child,” Collison writes. “I could never imagine finding anything that brings me more joy than I get from playing the game. While I still love basketball, I know there is something more important, which is my family and my faith. I am one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and my faith means everything to me. I receive so much joy from volunteering to help others and participate in a worldwide ministry. The joy I feel is unmatched.
“With that being said, I have decided to retire from the NBA.”
Collison’s surprising career move takes one of the top free agent point guards off the board this summer. While he wouldn’t have made the same sort of money that All-Stars like Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, and D’Angelo Russell will, Collison was on track to secure an annual salary in the range of $10-12MM if he had continued his career, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Collison, who will turn 32 in August, began his NBA career in New Orleans after being selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2009 draft. Over the course of his 10 years in the NBA, he spent time with the Pelicans (then the Hornets), Pacers, Mavericks, Clippers, and Kings, averaging 12.5 PPG and 5.0 APG on .471/.394/.853 shooting in 708 career regular season contests.
After earning $10MM with the Pacers in 2018/19, Collison will see his contract expire this weekend, so no roster move will be necessary as a result of his retirement.
The Pacers had already sent signals that they were planning to move on at the point guard position, having been linked repeatedly to Ricky Rubio as of late. Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets that a number of teams around the NBA have been operating as if Rubio-to-Indiana is a “highly likely” scenario.
Dana Gauruder contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
From PG to JW! Best of luck with life’s next endeavor Darren.
So it’s like right on and farewell dude but you will be missed in this game without a doubt.
For many years, I felt he was one of the most underrated players in the game. Good luck on your future endeavors, DC!
Happy Retirement DC! Never an elite player, but dependable night in and night out. Wish him nothing but the best moving forward.
Damn bro, I know money isn’t everything, but you’re leaving multiple millions on the table to go preach Jehovah’s word door to door?? It’s a shame what organized religion has done to this world.
THANK YOU!!!!
Can we capitalize that last sentence and make that some sort of world quote? Literally the root of so many terrible things throughout history
Out of countless incredible displays of ignorance contained in comment sections like this, this statement might take the prize. Organized religion (whatever that means) is also the cause of much good. Like all things in life, there’s bad to go with the good.
Compared to the atrocities its responsible for that continues to this day? Ridiculous, but I guess that pretty much epitomizes his point
You do realize JW’s are neutral & don’t go to war unlike all the other religions? So they haven’t really committed any atrocities!
maybe the atrocities are amongst themselves when they no longer want to be part of the church
I like them as people and as individuals and I have good friends that are JW’s, but their group as a whole and their governing body in New York has committed serious atrocities concerning how they handle child molestation cases within their organization. They’ve got their problems.
Parents gotta go to the cops, not church officials!
That wasnt the comment. The comment was about religion in general.
People do crap regardless. But maybe a bit less with Collison’s efforts.
Shame on you! You are a godless dude!
He has just become a hero of mine for having such strong principles!
The world would be a much better place with more people like him!
Right on CESC
You cant be serious right now
I commend him as a person and for the decision he made. Only major props to the man.
That aside, I bet he tries to come back in two years.
I hope this post doesn’t get deleted, but life as a Jehovah’s Witness is always going to be unfulfilled as they reach and strive and continually try to please God and as humans we of course fail from time to time.
There is security in the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ that a Jehovah’s Witness chooses not to experience. Darren will serve and do his Good Deeds and then miss the game and want to come back.
You’ll remember this post when he does. He’s still young and can be a very good NBA player.
I apologize in advance to anyone offended by religious comments that don’t belong on a basketball forum. But I thought it was on topic. Thank you.
I appreciate the thoughtful insight from a very different perspective than my own.
I’m not an expert on JW’ing but I’d go out on a limb and say it’d still be around after 2 or 3 more years and $25-30mil or so of playing. He’s better than me!
The church just called, they would like him to go play and make some heathy donations for a few years, then volunteer more after his body isn’t in such elite athletic shape.
But like you said, major props to the man for clearly flying in the face of this logic by retiring now. I’m sure his church values his service more than millions of dollars in donations.
I don’t know LOL. That money would pay for a lot of church meeting places and pamphlets.
Man. Didn’t see this one coming.
It’s sort of admirable, but I would think that he could do more for the church signing a contract and donating his earnings.
It’s not all about the money! Also unlike other religions JW’s don’t need the money, it isn’t a priority! Him fulfilling his dedication is more valuable than millions of bucks to the organization that’s for sure!
dont the j’hovs have to give the church 10% of their monetary earnings?
No they don’t. They give voluntarily. All the people you see that serve at the meetings, they volunteer their time and don’t get paid. Thus they need less money to operate. It’s the Mormons that are “required” to pay 10%.
It certainly makes a statement for him to take this path. I’m sure not everyone at his church agrees either, but it is a very strong statement to make this choice.
Still I would like the laugh of reading a story about his church competing in charity basketball tournaments against other churches. Please….
hes not retired
Wow…legit shocking. Honestly felt like he fit multiple teams and could have made some money. Was a fan since his rookie year behind Chris Paul. I hope he finds what he is looking for. I dont understand how it’s not something that can be done 2-3 years from now b/c there wont be more time to go back and be a legit NBA Point Guard, but he obviously had to have thought out this decision.
He will be fine. He’s got more than $30M in lifetime savings. I admire anyone willing to pursue their true life’s calling. So much cynicism here.
Excellent deep range, solid defense… Never elite, but always valuable. A nice player who had a nice career. He never made really good money until last year, but not everyone needs more than they need. Good for him. I hope he lives a purposeful life.
Collison is better than Rubio. Larry bird should go witness to him!
10 years, the best two the last two. It’s rare when a player leaves at his best. Problem is, having quit on top, how does one know if that was his best possible?
He possibly did not receive the best vibes in Indiana.
He realized what alot of ppl do in the entertainment business… You can’t take the money nor the possessions you have with you so why sacrifice your time family and friend for it.. Seems legit to me god bless Darren Collison on his decision.