It didn’t exactly take Sherlock Holmes to piece the clues together: Darren Collison had talked about coming out of retirement and then sat with Lakers’ owner Jeanie Buss at a recent game. He was coming to Los Angeles.
Except Collison is not predictable.
The veteran point guard has decided to stay retired, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.After retiring prior to summer free agency last year, veteran guard Darren Collison considered a midseason return to the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers or the Clippers -- but has decided to stay retired, league sources told ESPN.
Collison had been weighing a February or March comeback with one of the NBA’s two championship contenders in Los Angeles, but Collison informed teams Sunday that he simply isn’t ready to return to the NBA -- and it’s unclear if or when he will, league sources said.
For a Laker team that did not make a move at the deadline — while other top teams in the West did, including the Clippers — Collison was a player who would give them a boost in shooting and playmaking. The Lakers are expected to be active on the buyout market, but it’s unlikely a player with the impact level of Collison.
Collison averaged 11.6 points and six assists a game last season in Indiana, plus he shot 40.7 percent from three. He was poised to become a free agent last July, and there was considerable demand for his services, but he decided to retire.
Now it’s going to stat that way, at least for this season.
