Clippers’ John Collins progressing towards return from ‘freak accident’

The LA Clippers have played their last seven games without starting forward John Collins, but appear to be on the verge of getting him back in short order.

Collins has missed the last seven games for the Clippers after suffering a neck strain against the New Orleans Pelicans back on March 1st. It was the second neck-related injury in 10 days for Collins, who was held out of game action for nine days due to a head laceration and neck soreness stemming from a scary fall against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 20th.

These are the two neck injuries John Collins has suffered in a 10-day span:

– 1/20/26 — lands hard on left side of head, avoids concussion, but suffers head laceration + neck soreness.
– 3/1/26 — in first game back, hits same left side head/neck on drive and immediately grabs at… https://t.co/3Aj6WFgQH5 pic.twitter.com/rwzmpnkP32

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 4, 2026

John Collins has not played in games, but has been sitting on the Clippers bench, appearing in good spirits after a couple of scary hits to the head area. Collins tells ClutchPoints he’s hopeful to be back on the court soon sometime over the next few days.

“I feel good, just trying to get back right,” Collins said. “It’s been a tough little patch for me, being available. So I’m trying to do what I can to get back right.”

Collins participated in a scrimmage on Thursday, between the Clippers’ home games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls. He came out of that feeling well, but the Clippers want to get another one of those “stay ready” games in and continue to evaluate him as he ramps up to return.

“Yeah, I’m back in the stay ready games, I’m feeling better. Those types of injuries are just freak accidents, freak injuries. Just looking at the bright side, it could have been worse, it could have been something else. Again, that I don’t want to really even think about, but again, I’m doing well. And I’m just trying to, again, stay healthy and make sure I’m ready to go.”

Since November 25th — eight games after being inserted into the starting lineup — John Collins averaged 14.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 60.1 percent from the field and 46.5 percent from three.

So how do the Clippers plan to reincorporate a player like Collins after he’d missed to much time?

“He fits in great,” Tyronn Lue told ClutchPoints. “Must kind of see where he’s at with his minutes restriction. JC’s been a big part of us all year. His play, once he started playing well, really turned our season for us. Just kind of see where he’s at minutes wise, see how he feels, and kind of go from there.”

Since losing Ivica Zubac in the trade that also brought back Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson, John Collins has had to take on a bigger role rebounding for the team. And while he hasn’t played since the loss of rookie center Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Collins’ absence has been felt on the glass.

“His ability to rebound the basketball, the offensive rebounds,” Lue said of where the Clippers have missed John Collins the most. “And then to slow the game down, somebody we can kind of post, go to in the mid-post area to slow the game down. He’s been really good with that, so we kind of miss that. And like I said, miss his energy. His energy on the floor is really good.”

Since the Clippers started the season 6-21, John Collins has been a focal point of the Clippers offense, averaging 15.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 block per game while shooting an absurd 63.6 percent from the field and 54.9 percent from three.

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