ATLANTA — John Collins might have provided the highlight of the year on Wednesday night, and it was only the second game of the preseason.
It happened in the fourth quarter of the Hawks' game against Cleveland at State Farm Arena.
Collins, fresh off signing a five-year, $125 million extension this offseason to stay in Atlanta, rolled toward the bucket for an alley-oop lob from rookie guard Sharife Cooper late in the fourth quarter. The pass was a bit high, but that didn't matter for Collins - who rose up and slammed it down at full extension.
Collins has made something of a habit of poster-worthy dunks - his flying slam over Joel Embiid during the playoffs the most recent one that had jaws dropping.
Collins' dunk Wednesday was the latest in his impressive highlight reel. NBA media personality Rob Perez pointed out the reaction to the dunk from a stupefied Kevin Huerter:
Huerter wasn't the only one left dumbfounded.
"What on earth John Collins," Steve Jones Jr., a former assistant coach in the NBA, tweeted.
It was also, as many Twitter users pointed out, not the first time Collins has thrown down on Cleveland's Jarrett Allen, who was guarding him on Wednesday night. Back in January the Hawks star threw down another ferocious slam on top of the Cleveland center, who was with the Brooklyn Nets at the time.
Collins and the Hawks will be back in action for real in just a couple weeks, when their season tips off against the Dallas Mavericks at home Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at State Farm Arena.