Nate McMillan

Nathaniel McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player who previously served as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He was also known to be one third of the "Big Mac" trio of the SuperSonics in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the others being Xavier McDaniel and Derrick McKey.

McMillan helped lead NC State to a first-place tie in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in 1985, and to the Elite Eight in both the 1985 and 1986 NCAA Championship Tournaments, where the Wolfpack lost to St. John's and Kansas, respectively.

During his time at NC State, McMillan played alongside a number of fellow future NBA players: Spud Webb, Lorenzo Charles, Cozell McQueen, Chris Washburn, Vinny Del Negro, Charles Shackleford, and Chucky Brown.

McMillan was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 30th pick in the 1986 NBA draft.

He spent his entire NBA career in Seattle.

During his 12-year playing career, McMillan put up career averages of 5.9 points, 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals.

He still shares (with Ernie DiGregorio) the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25.

McMillan served as the primary starting point guard for the SuperSonics from the time he replaced Danny Young midway through the 1986–87 season, until he was replaced at the start of the 1990–91 season by future NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton, then a rookie and the number two pick in the 1990 draft.

McMillan was known for his superb defense, leading the NBA in steals per game for the 1993–94 season and being named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons.

McMillan was also known for his balanced play, which led to four career triple-doubles.

In the 1995–96 season, McMillan helped the SuperSonics reach the NBA Finals against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

The SuperSonics were the only team to beat the Bulls three times that season (once in the regular season and twice in the playoffs).

Known as "Mr. Sonic" for his 19 years of service to the team, his number 10 jersey was retired by the SuperSonics.

After retiring in 1998, McMillan stayed in Seattle as an assistant under Paul Westphal.

He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012, and the Indiana Pacers from 2016 to 2020.

He spent his entire 12-year NBA playing career with the SuperSonics, then served as an assistant coach for one-and-a-half years and as head coach for almost five years.

His long tenure as a player and coach in Seattle earned him the nickname "Mr. Sonic".

McMillan grew up in the heart of North Carolina's basketball country and attended Raleigh's William G. Enloe High School, where he went unnoticed by major college scouts.

After playing for two years at Chowan College (then a two-year school) in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, he returned to Raleigh to play for Jim Valvano at North Carolina State.

He held this role until 2000 when the Sonics fired Westphal and made McMillan interim coach.

Although the team missed the playoffs during his first year, he earned a winning record of 38–29 as interim head coach.

He was hired as head coach for the 2001–02 campaign and led the club to the playoffs.

McMillan's Sonics had mediocre records the next two years, going 40–42 and 37–45.

In the 2004–05 season, he led the team to 52–30 record in the regular season.

The team advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

After spending 19 years in Seattle as a player and coach, McMillan left Seattle on July 6, 2005, to become the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

He took over a team riddled with cap problems and off-the-court drama, but steadily calmed the waters in Portland.

His hard-nosed coaching style earned him the nickname "Sarge."

On December 5, 2009, McMillan ruptured his right Achilles tendon while scrimmaging with the Trail Blazers during practice.

He coached much of the season in a protective boot after surgery and led the team to 50 wins in spite of a historic number of injuries to his key players.

McMillan coached the Blazers until March 15, 2012.

On July 1, 2013, McMillan was hired by the Indiana Pacers as an assistant coach for the 2013–14 season.

He replaced Brian Shaw, who accepted the head coaching position with the Denver Nuggets.

In May 2016, after former head coach Frank Vogel's contract was not extended, McMillan was promoted to replace Vogel as the Pacers' coach.

In McMillan's first year as head coach, the team experienced turmoil surrounding the displeasure and eventual departure of All-Star Paul George, who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in June 2017.

Despite this drama, the Pacers made the playoffs in all four of McMillan's seasons with the team, including three straight years without George.

This was due largely to the emergence of the two players for whom he was traded, Victor Oladipo, who won the league's award for Most Improved Player in 2017 and was named to his first All-Star team in 2018, and Domantas Sabonis, who would also become an All-Star two years later in 2019.

On August 12, 2020, Indiana announced that they had extended McMillan's contract.

However, he was then fired a mere two weeks later, on August 26, 2020, after the Pacers were swept in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row, the fourth first round exit and third first round sweep in four playoff appearances under McMillan.