Background
Collison was born in Orange City, Iowa and grew up in Fort Dodge and Iowa Falls.
Collison was born in Orange City, Iowa and grew up in Fort Dodge and Iowa Falls.
He attended Iowa Falls High School and was a McDonald"s All-American in 1999. Collison finished his college career as the leading scorer in the history of the Big 12 Conference (since passed by Andre Emmett).
As a college player, he went to two Final Fours with the Kansas Jayhawks. Teaming with fellow Iowan Kirk Hinrich to form one of the best duos in college basketball, Collison helped KU reach two consecutive Final Fours (2002 and 2003). In 2003, his Jayhawks lost to Carmelo Anthony and the Syracuse Orange in the National Championship game, 81–78.
He also played for the United States national team at the 2002 International Basketball Federation World Championship.
Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder (2003–present)
Collison was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 12th overall pick in the 2003 National Basketball Association draft but missed the 2003-2004 season with injuries to both shoulders. He made his regular season National Basketball Association debut on November 3, 2004 against the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring three points in the 84-114 loss.
He finished his rookie season of 2004-2005 having played in all 82 games as he averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17.0 minutes per game. He went on to play a further three seasons for Seattle before the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City and rebranding as the Thunder.
Along with Kevin Durant, the pair are the only two players remaining from the Seattle SuperSonics era (Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka were drafted by the Sonics but the team relocated before their rookie seasons).
In his first season with the Thunder in 2008-2009, Collison was once again a solid back-up off the bench as he played 71 games with 40 starting assignments. However, despite his productive first five seasons in the league, Collison"s numbers dropped over the following years as his points per game averages dropped below six in 2009-2010 and below five in 2010-2011. Playing more of a power forward role in the lockout shortened 2011-2012 season, Collison helped the Thunder reach the 2012 National Basketball Association Finals where they faced the Miami Heat.
Despite a solid game one victory, the Thunder went on to lose the series in five games.
On February 3, 2015, Collison signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract extension with the Thunder.