Veteran guard Darren Collison has decided that he won’t return to the NBA this season and plans to stay retired, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers had been courting him, but Collison has informed teams that the timing isn’t right for him.
Collison, a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California, who played his college ball at UCLA, abruptly exited the league in June, citing religious reasons for retiring.
Collison, 32, averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 39.4% from 3 in 10 seasons, including two seasons under current Lakers coach Frank Vogel from 2010 to 2012 with the Indiana Pacers. He became a progressively better 3-point shooter in his career, including shooting 47% in the 2017-18 season with the Pacers. His exit from the league last year came despite an expectation that he would attract multiple contract offers in the neighborhood of $10 million-plus a season.
The Lakers have been looking to fortify the point guard position all season and made inquiries to the Oklahoma City Thunder regarding Dennis Schroder, the Sacramento Kings about Bogdan Bogdanovic and the Detroit Pistons about Derrick Rose in the days and weeks leading up to the trade deadline, sources told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Collison sat courtside with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss at Thursday’s game against the Houston Rockets.
Source : ESPN
