Former Chicago Bulls head coach Doug Collins named to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Chris Kwiecinski

One of Michael Jordan's mentors and former Chicago Bulls coach has earned basketball's highest honor.

Doug Collins, who won 137 games and made the playoffs every season in Chicago, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame announced Saturday.

"Doug Collins’ basketball accomplishments are special," Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. "Doug did enough to be an Olympic basketball star. He was one of the NBA’s best guards and an All-Star four consecutive seasons before knee surgery prematurely ended his playing career. He then became a premier NBA coach who coached an All-Star game and a Basketball Hall of Fame Gowdy Award winner for his broadcasting and TV game analysis.

Collins, a Christopher, Illinois, native went to Benson High School and played college basketball at Illinois State, won 442 games across an 11-year NBA coaching career with four different teams.

His first coaching job in the NBA was with the Bulls, and Collins coached there from 1986 to 1989. He compiled a 137-109 record and made the playoffs every season he coached the Bulls.

<div>1988-1989: Head coach Doug Collins of the Chicago Bulls yells from the sidelines during a game at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport</div>
1988-1989: Head coach Doug Collins of the Chicago Bulls yells from the sidelines during a game at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport

Collins joins a hall of fame class which also includes Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Bo Ryan, Charles Smith, Seimone Augustus, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin, Michele Timms, Herb Simon, and Jerry West.

Collins and the Class of 2024 will be enshrined during a two-day event on Aug. 16 and 17 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

"Doug, who is a dear friend, also holds a special place in the hearts of Chicago Bulls fans and the franchise as the coach who started the climb toward the great dynasty of the 1990s by leading the Bulls and Michael Jordan to the franchise’s first 50-win season and conference finals appearance in more than a decade and later returning as an adviser and mentor to Bulls staff and coaches in the Tex Winter tradition," Reinsdorf said. "The Bulls congratulate Doug and are proud to have been a part of his legendary Hall of Fame career."

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