On the occasions that John Collins has visited family from his mother’s side in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it has always been easy to identify the region’s most beloved sports hero.
“As soon as you come out of the airport, there’s a flag of Tim Duncan,” Collins, a 6-foot-10 power forward out of Wake Forest, said after working out with the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on Monday. “They let you know immediately.”
Collins, voted the most improved player in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a sophomore this past season, isn’t exactly fielding comparisons to Duncan, the player he calls “the greatest power forward of all-time,” even if the two share a connection to the same islands, school and position.