Look, we’ve been hard on Jason Collins over here. But it was never about Collins as much as it was about the role he was thrust into, especially as his numbers slumped during the past two seasons. Though cast as a starting center, he really needed to be no more than a 10-minute backup.

Yet there’s no denying he brought certain things to the table: defense, toughness, and character. The last of those attributes was on full display this weekend. Collins knew the Nets had agreed to trade him to the Grizzlies, yet he played both Friday and Saturday because Malik Allen had the flu and New Jersey wanted to postpone the trade until Allen felt better.

It set up a bizarre “farewell” game. Nets coach Lawrence Frank gave him a ceremonial start on Saturday in Atlanta, and the man they nickname “Twin” actually played fairly well — even getting a rare dunk on the first trip.

“This is very unique,” Frank told me before the game. “The are very few guys that would be able to handle the situation the way that Twin is. The character he has … [we know] whatever he plays tonight he’s going to give 100%. That just speaks to what this person’s about. He’s such a special human being; he’s meant so much to this franchise.”

And so in the wake of Collins’s trade yesterday to the Grizzlies for Stromile Swift, let’s at least tip our hat to a guy who played hard — harder than a lot of his teammates, actually — even when he didn’t have to. No, he can’t shoot or rebound, but he’s been one of the league’s top defensive centers for half a decade, and his professional approach is a big reason why.

This trade is the first step in the Nets’ rebuilding project, and, as I mentioned last week, it’s been a great run and they have nothing to be embarrassed about. Certainly, neither does Collins.

1. BOSTON CELTICS (36–8) (LW: 2): They’ve regained the top spot with a pair of solid wins, despite losing Kevin Garnett to an abdominal strain. In his absence, forward Leon Powe has been a revelation.

2 NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (32–14) (1): I put them at no. 1 last week, and this is how they reward me? Lord Byron’s boys were soundly beaten by Golden State and Sacramento, but not before he clinched the spot as the West’s coach for the All-Star game.

3. UTAH JAZZ (30–18) (6): The record doesn’t quite say it yet, but this team is fearsome, and they’re a legit title contender. They’ve won eight in a row and are 14–2 since adding sharpshooter Kyle Korver.

4. DETROIT PISTONS (34–13) (4): It looks like they’re back from the midseason doldrums after Sunday’s impressive beatdown of Dallas. They should keep it up, too, as the schedule the next three weeks is cupcake city.

5. PHOENIX SUNS (33–14) (3): Thursday’s home loss to the depleted Spurs was a downer, but they had better get up quick. Coming Wednesday is a showdown with New Orleans for no. 1 in the West.

6. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (30–16) (7): Pau Gasol hasn’t played a game yet, but the heist of him from the Grizzlies appears to have one positive already — Kobe Bryant seemed newly energized in road wins over Wizards and Raptors.

7. DALLAS MAVERICKS (31-15) (5): After unimpressive efforts in losses to the Celtics and the Pistons, combined with the Lakers’ Gasol acquisition, one has to wonder if they’ll raise their offer for Jason Kidd.

8. TORONTO RAPTORS (25–21) (9): They lost two out of three this week, but what a win that one victory was: a 122–83 shellacking of Washington. And point guard T.J. Ford may be back on the court soon.

9. ORLANDO MAGIC (31–18) (12): The Magic have quietly won seven of their past eight to regain control of the Southeast Division race, and Rashard Lewis is finally starting to look comfortable offensively.

10. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (29–16) (10): The rodeo road trip is off to a shaky start — they’ve dropped two out of three and lost point guard Tony Parker indefinitely to a troublesome heel injury.

11. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (26–20) (8): LeBron played the hero in a comeback win over the Blazers despite a bad ankle, but the Cavs again showed their vulnerability without him in a loss to Seattle the next night.

12. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (29–19) (16): The slumping Warriors decided to wake up and beat the daylights out of the Hornets and the Bobcats. But how does the league’s fastest team integrate Chris Webber, perhaps the league’s slowest player?

13. HOUSTON ROCKETS (27–20) (13): They’ve won seven of eight to climb back into Western playoff race, and they look set to keep rolling — Tracy McGrady is back in the lineup, and they only have two road games the rest of February.

14. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (27–19) (11): The first four games of their current six-game homestand were unimpressive, to say the least, and one still wonders if they have enough scoring to keep up their surprise playoff run.

15. DENVER NUGGETS (28–18) (14): Veteran retread Anthony Carter has been a savior in the backcourt, shooting 47.4% from the floor to partly make up for the season-long absence of shooting ace Chucky Atkins.

16. SACRAMENTO KINGS (22–24) (17): Now that they’re finally healthy, they sure look like a playoff team — they’ve won four straight and seven of nine. But can they make up a six-game gap in less than half a season?

17. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (23–19) (15): Their joy at getting two All-Stars (Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler) quickly subsided with a string of four losses in five games — and now they have to go out West for four games.

18. ATLANTA HAWKS (19-24) (18): I’m still trying to figure out how exactly Joe Johnson made the All-Star team. The veteran guard is having one of his worst seasons and looks exhausted from the heavy minutes he’s logged the past three years.

19. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (18-29) (23): With each miserable defeat by the other Eastern Conference pretenders, the idea of this team making the playoffs becomes less and less preposterous.

20. INDIANA PACERS (19–29) (19): Since Jermaine O’Neal went out, their defense has gone from substandard to abysmal, which is helping account for a six-game losing skid. It may be up to seven when they come to MSG tomorrow night.

21. CHICAGO BULLS (18–28) (20): I’m still waiting for them to make a run, but it will have to wait until injured stars Luol Deng and Ben Gordon come back. Until then, the team’s current six-game Western swing is a big test; so far they’re 0–2.

22. NEW YORK KNICKS (14–33) (22): The nice thing about being in the East is you can go 0–5 on a West Coast trip and not really lose any ground. Wins over the Pacers and the Bucks this week would be huge steps toward playoff race relevance.

23. MINNESOTA TIMBER – WOLVES (10–36) (25): They’re actually playing really well right now, winning five out of seven, and second-year guard Randy Foye is finally back after missing 43 games with a knee injury.

24. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (18–30) (21): The addition of free agent Earl Boykins has an added benefit — they can finally bench the scandalously ineffective Jeff McInnis.

25. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (14–30) (26): Rookie Al Thornton blew up for 33 in a surprise win over the Hawks, one of the few positives in a rocky rookie season for the Clips’ first-round pick.

26. NEW JERSEY NETS (18–26) (28): The newly acquired Swift is renowned for his low basketball IQ, so I’m not sure how he fits in with a coach like Lawrence Frank. But the Nets will save about $300,000, so Bruce Ratner’s probably happy.

27. SEATTLE SUPERSONICS (12–35) (30): Winners of three straight, believe it or not, including an upset of defending champion San Antonio on Tuesday. But rookie Jeff Green is still struggling terribly at the offensive end.

28. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (18–30) (24): What a disappointment. Their 112–69 loss to the Sixers was one of the most miserable “efforts” I’ve seen all season.

29. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (13–34) (27): I don’t subscribe to the idea that the Gasol trade amounted to a gift … yet. It all depends on what Memphis does with all the cap space the trade created.

30. MIAMI HEAT (9–36) (29): Pat Riley said Shaq should make the All-Star team as a “lifetime achievement” award. He’d fit right in — at least in that game, everybody else jogs back on D too.

jhollinger@nysun.com