Atlanta Hawks' John Collins Suffers Head Injury

The Atlanta Hawks lost 122-101 to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, but an injury to a key player is the greater concern. John Collins was evaluated for a head injury in the third quarter and did not return.

Update: John Collins will not return. https://t.co/f0iM96OyJK
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 16, 2023

Collins accumulated eight points and two rebounds before his departure. No mention of a concussion was made during the broadcast, but that's always the concern when a player goes down with contact to the head. For the season, Collins has appeared in 50 of a possible 59 games and averaged 13.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game with a respectable .582 true shooting percentage.

Collins has been a key piece of the Hawks young offensive core since being drafted 19th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, but he appears to have plateaued as a solid if unspectacular forward. He flirted with stardom early in his career, averaging 21.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game with an impressive .659 true shooting percentage in his age-22 season, but he has come back to earth in the years since. Similarly, The Hawks have appeared to find their level after tantalizing with an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2020-21; they're 29-30 and eighth in the Eastern Conference this season.

The Hawks host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.