Paul Douglas Collins (born July 28, 1951) is an American basketball executive, former player, coach and television analyst in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1973 to 1981 for the Philadelphia 76ers, earning four NBA All-Star selections. He then became an NBA coach in 1986, and had stints coaching the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. Collins also served as an analyst for various NBA-related broadcast shows. He is a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award. Early life Collins was born in Christopher, Illinois. He grew up in Benton, Illinois, where his next-door neighbor was future film star John Malkovich. Collins enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Benton Consolidated High School under renowned coach Rich Herrin College career Collins went on to play for Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, coached from 1970 by Will Robinson, the first black head coach in NCAA Division I. Professional career Philadelphia 76ers (1973–1981) Collins was drafted first overall in the 1973 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played eight seasons for Philadelphia, and was an NBA All-Star four times. In the 1976–77 season, he joined Julius Erving leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers. A rash of injuries to his feet and left knee beginning in 1979 would end Collins' career in 1981. In all, he played 415 NBA games, scoring 7,427 points (17.9 per game). Coaching career After his retirement, Collins turned to coaching. He joined Bob Weinhauer's staff at Penn as an assistant coach and later followed Weinhauer to Arizona State for the same job. Chicago Bulls (1986–1989) In May 1986, Collins was named head coach of the Chicago Bulls; the team featured a young Michael Jordan who was entering his third season. Despite having Jordan, the Bulls were coming off a 30–52 season and fired their past two coaches after one season each. Collins immediately helped the Bulls turn around their fortunes, showing an improvement of 10 games in each of his first two seasons, coaching Chicago to a 50–32 record in his second year. In his third year as coach, he brought Chicago to their first Eastern Conference Finals Appearance in 15 years, however, they were unable to get past their Central Division rival the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons. Despite the Bulls' success and his popularity in Chicago, Collins