Confirming his potential through all-seeing court vision and downhill drives throughout 2024-25’s rocky-yet-inspiring rookie season, Isaiah Collier’s speed — relatively speaking — set his path to an unforgettable location on January 12, 2025: the top of the mountain. Appropriately dressed in Utah’s retro-themed jerseys, Collier, with a tribute-type victory only a single bucket away, springs himself free to retrieve an inbounds pass with time quickly evaporating. Confident in testing his speed-and-power blend against the pair of Brooklyn Nets defenders blocking his path, the No. 29 pick keeps his dribble moderately controlled, barreling through before softly banking the ultimately-deemed game-winning layup. Solidifying his spot as the night’s hero, Collier helped the Utah Jazz claw out a victory, even with five of the team’s top six scorers sidelined. Steady throughout the inevitable, well-documented ups-and-downs of the night’s battle, Collier’s box score recited a similar story of his poise and versatility, as he rattled off 23 points (on 9-of-16 shooting), seven rebounds, seven assists, one block, and three 3-pointers. · Jan 13, 2025