In April 2024, Collins was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2024 by the Contributors Committee.

In the 1976–77 season, he joined Julius Erving leading the Sixers to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers.

[citation needed] A series of injuries[5] to his feet and left knee beginning in 1979 would end Collins' career in 1981.

[7] In May 1986, Collins was named head coach of the Chicago Bulls;[8] the team featured a young Michael Jordan who was entering his third season.

[9] Collins immediately helped the Bulls turn their fortunes around, showing an improvement of 10 games in each of his first two seasons, coaching Chicago to a 50–32 record in his second year.

His results on arrival in Detroit were similar to those in Chicago, as the Pistons had a second-year star who drew comparisons to Michael Jordan, Grant Hill.

[12] A fast start in his second season pushed Hill to the top of MVP consideration and Collins was named the Eastern Conference All-Star team's coach.

[13] The highlight of the year for Collins came on April 13, when the Pistons defeated the defending champion Bulls to end Detroit's 19-game losing streak against Chicago.

[17] While the 76ers initially started out poorly with a record of 3–13, the team showed great improvement as the season went on, and clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs.

However: The final 3 seconds of the game after the free throws were replayed due to a timing error, which let USSR to make the decisive shot.

He also called games for the New York Knicks during the 2003–04 season on MSG Network on a part-time basis, paired with Marv Albert.

In addition, he served as an analyst for NBC Sports' TV coverage of basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

[29] However, Collins withdrew his name when he and owner Jerry Reinsdorf "agreed it wasn't the best to keep going this way," in light of their close personal friendship.

[30] On September 19, 2017, the Chicago Bulls announced that Collins had joined the team as senior advisor of basketball operations.

A statue depicting Collins and his ISU coach, Will Robinson, was unveiled on September 19, 2009, outside the north entrance of Redbird Arena.