Darren Collison

Darren Michael Collison is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Collison played all four years of his college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. In the 2006-07 season, he averaged 5.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game shooting 44.7 percent from beyond the arc. He was named MVP of the Maui Invitational Tournament in 2009.

In his senior year, Collison averaged 14.4 points, 4.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game leading the conference in free throw percentage. He also ranked third in assists, steals, and assists-to-turnover ratio. Collison also won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award that year and was awarded the best college player 6 ft 0 in or shorter. He played a total of 142 games for UCLA, tied for the most ever.

Collison was considered as one of the top point guards in the 2009 NBA Draft. He was selected as the 21st overall pick by the New Orleans Hornets. Collison made a Hornets rookie record with 18 assists in a 113-11 victory which ended an 11-game winning streak for the Memphis Grizzlies. He broke his own record later in the season with 20 assists in a 135–131 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

He scored 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists and became just the second rookie to score a triple-double of the 2009-10 season. He averaged 18.8 points and 9.1 assists in the 37 games as a starter and finished 4th in NBA Rookie of the Year Award voting. In 2010, Hornets traded Collison in a four-team five-player deal to the Indiana Pacers. In 2012, Collison and Dahntay Jones were traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Ian Mahinmi.

Collison signed a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013. With Chris Paul out for 18 games, Collison averaged 13.3 points and 6.5 assists in 32.6 minutes. In Game 4 of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Collison scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter and helped the Clippers overcome a 22-point deficit to tie the series at 2–2. In 2014, Collison agreed to a three-year, $16 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. In 2017, Collison signed again with the Indiana Pacers for the second time in his career. He averaged 11.3 points, 4.7 assists, and 3 rebounds in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs as the Pacers lost to the Cavaliers in a grueling seven-game series.