As the Oklahoma City Thunder honored longtime player Nick Collison on Wednesday, many on hand at the event really enjoyed the moment as the organization retired his No. 4 jersey.
Collison, the No. 12 pick of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2003, addressed the crowd in Oklahoma City after a short tribute video played. He was surrounded by several members of his family.
Collison gave an emotional speech in which he thanked his family members, Thunder owner Clay Bennett, general manager Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook and several others.
Several of his former teammates were in attendance as Westbrook, Steven Adams, Andre Roberson and other current Thunder players were standing near Collison and his family during his speech.
Adams really enjoyed the ceremony and had a typical Steven Adams response.
“It was beautiful, man,” Adams said. “It was really, really good. It was really good for the organization to retire his jersey. I miss the old bastard. It was a beautiful moment.”
Prior to the ceremony, Adams credited Collison as a key member in building up the Thunder culture. Collison, along with Westbrook, were the only two players to have spent the first 10 years in Oklahoma City.
He’s more of a culture builder, that guy. He’s just one of those dudes that’s like constantly professional and just very — he’s not emotionless — but he’s just pretty steady. Just very cool, calm and collected. He’s just one of those dudes that everyone can talk to
The Thunder were praised by many for the decision to retire the number of Collison since he remained professional during his 15 years with the organization.
Now, Collison is entrenched in Thunder history forever.
