Loyal Number 4 – A Look Inside Nick Collison’s Number Retirement Day

Over the course of his Thunder career, Nick Collison traveled into Oklahoma City hundreds of times. Usually it was by private charter with the team, landing in the wee hours of the morning, trying to soak up precious moments of rest before the rigorous regular season schedule raged on.

This week, Collison’s arrival and the feeling during the trip were much, much different. The former Thunder forward drove down from Kansas City with his 13-year old daughter, Emma, for a once-in-a-lifetime reason.

On Wednesday night, the Thunder retired Collison’s number 4, making it the first retired number in the organization’s history and a statement of how much the new age, do-it-all, dirty work player…