Hollins attended John Muir High School in Pasadena, California. He had signed with St. Louis University, but was allowed to withdraw his letter of intent after St. Louis head coachLorenzo Romar left to become the head coach at the University of Washington. After declining St. Louis, Hollins committed to and enrolled at UCLA. Hollins played significant minutes all four years of his career at UCLA. He had career averages of 5.5 points and 4 rebounds. He had a then career-high 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks in a career-high 34 minutes against Oregon on January 30, 2003, and bettered his career high with 21 points in a loss to USC on January 28, 2004. He was named the Oakland Regional's Most Outstanding Player after registering 14 points and 9 rebounds in a 50–45 victory against the Memphis Tigers. Hollins was also an accomplished high jumper, clearing 6'10" at the Pac-10 championships. In 2003, Hollins placed ninth in the high jump at the NCAA Regionals and sixth at the Pac-10 Championships.
Professional career
Hollins was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. He was the 100th UCLA player to be selected in the NBA draft. He played in 27 games and averaged 2.6 points per game during his rookie season. During 2008 off season, Bobcats extended him a qualifying offer and he became a restricted free agent. On July 25, 2008, he signed this qualifying offer to stay one more year with the Bobcats. On January 16, 2009, Hollins was traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with Matt Carroll in exchange for DeSagana Diop. On August 3, 2009, he was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves to a three-year, $7 million offer sheet. The Mavericks did not match the offer. On July 26, 2010 Hollins was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with guard Ramon Sessions and a second round pick in 2013 in exchange for Delonte West and Sebastian Telfair. He was released by the Cavaliers on March 20, 2012. He was then signed by the Boston Celtics on March 23, 2012. Signed primarily to add size to the Celtic bench, Hollins played sparingly through 15 regular season games. Hollins played in 17 of the 20 postseason games, providing quality energy and rebounding at times when rookie Greg Stiemsma was in foul trouble. On July 23, 2012, Hollins signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. On July 10, 2013, he re-signed with the Clippers. On September 18, 2014, Hollins signed with the Sacramento Kings. On September 28, 2015, Hollins signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. However, he was later waived by the Grizzlies on October 26 after appearing in seven preseason games. On November 30, he signed with the Washington Wizards. On December 23, he was waived by the Wizards after appearing in five games. On December 29, he re-signed with the Grizzlies. On January 7, 2016, he was waived by the Grizzlies after appearing in four games. On January 21, he returned to the Grizzlies for a second time, signing a 10-day contract with the team. On February 1, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, and on March 2, he signed with the team for the rest of the season. On April 7, he was waived by the Grizzlies for a third time. On December 5, 2016, Hollins signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria for the rest of the 2016–17 ACB season. On March 15, 2017, he was released from Gran Canaria due to disciplinary reasons, for having traveled to the United States, without permission and with the negative expression of the club. Three days later, he signed with Italian club Auxilium Torino for the rest of the 2016–17 LBA season.
Hollins is the son of Teryl and the late Denier Hollins. Hollins was criticized by Shaquille O'Neal, Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith in ESPN's First Take for his arguments on the show. O'Neal almost walked out of the show when he said Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan would not be able to fill LeBron’s shoes. Hollins also stated that a healthy Golden State Warriors team would “run laps” around Jordan's Bulls squad, regardless of the era and ruleset.
