Errick McCollum’s basketball career started after one dunk, one moment of glory, and on agent. During his career at Goshen College, McCollum played on the mens basketball team. During a game, McCollum dunked a basketball that caught the attention of an agent once it was on ESPN’s big 10. After college, McCollum would never have guessed that his agent would take him to a different continent, but he did. So he packed up his stuff and headed to Europe. After playing for Greece and Israel, he headed to China to play for the CBA.
From the U.S to China was a big step for McCollum, but he says he “made a good choice.” McCollum’s choice was partially based on the fact that he could be an explosive scorer. This was very true. McCollum set a record in the CBA for the most points scored in a single game: 82. “A lot of people go to work everyday and hate it, I don’t have that problem.” McCollum said regarding a question about his love of the game. He also noted that in the record game, his teammate was out and had told him that he needed to step up his game, so he did.
McCollum isn’t from China, so he doesn’t speak Chinese. Therefore, a trans-later must come to all of his practices, and nearly everywhere he goes. He also has a driver, because he doesn’t know his way around China, and could easily get lost. “It’s a little more authentic,” McCollum said regarding the food in China, but he says they still have things like McDonalds, KFC, and other chain restaurants. Also, it is a challenge to communicate with his teammates, which is a big problem since they need to be able to talk about plays, moves, etc. Being so far away from home and in a strange place is hard, but McCollum says, “it was a journey,” going to China, and that’s what he loves about the game.