Nate McMillan

Nathaniel "Nate" McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player; he's currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, and the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012.

Early life and college career

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 a brief basketball career at Chowan College in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, he returned to Raleigh to play for Jim Valvano at North Carolina State, before entering the NBA. McMillan helped lead NC State to a first place tie in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in 1985, and the Elite Eight in both the 1985 and 1986 NCAA Championship Tournaments.

NBA career

McMillan was drafted by the Sonics with the 30th pick in the 1986 draft. He would spend 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 played as the starting point guard position for the Sonics for most of his career. 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. Known as "Mr. Sonic" for his 19 years of service to the team, his #10 jersey was retired by the Sonics. He was also known to be one third of the "Big Mac" team of the Seattle SuperSonics in the late 80's and early 90's, the others being Xavier McDaniel and Derrick McKey.