Candace Buckner

IndyStar



Nate McMillan was named the Indiana Pacers' 16th head coach during a Monday afternoon news conference. McMillan, 51, has spent the past three seasons on the bench and the promotion means a higher profile. So, get to know the coach. Here are 10 things you might not have known about Nate McMillan.

Ten hut!

McMillan arrived in Portland to lead the franchise out of its "Jail Blazer" haze; however some of the characters still filled the roster. So during the 2005 training camp, McMillan cracked the whip. He yelled. He sent players off the court. He ran three-hour practices. McMillan was unafraid to stand up to a star player so he and Indiana native Zach Randolph allegedly butted heads. Randolph took to calling him “Sarge” — a nickname that endured through his time in Portland.

2. Tobacco Road heritage

McMillan, born and raised in Raleigh, N.C., attended William G. Enloe High School. Besides McMillan, who played 12 seasons in the league, the high school produced four other NBA players: Randy Denton (1976-77), Danny Young (1984-93, 1994-95), Chris Wilcox (2002-13) and P.J. Tucker (a five-year veteran now with the Phoenix Suns). With five NBA players, William G. Enloe High has produced the most of any public school in North Carolina, according to a database on www.basketball-reference.com.

3. Big Draw

In 2005, McMillan was one of the hottest head coaching names on the market. He was only 40 years old but had spent the previous five seasons in Seattle — his one and only basketball home as a player, assistant coach and finally head coach. That summer, McMillan worked out a multi-year deal with Portland that reportedly paid him $6 million annually. (Pause for context: the Pacers reportedly paid Frank Vogel $2.5 million for the 2015-16 season, a decade after McMillan’s big draw).

Doyel: McMillan is a hire that makes you say, 'Huh?'

4. Smudging the Bulls’ historic season

In 1995-96, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were on their way to a historic 72-win season. McMillan’s SuperSonics earned a note of distinction as the only team to beat the Bulls three times that year (once in the regular season and twice in the NBA Finals).

5. Tough guy

The two wins during the championship series might have been even more significant because McMillan, a key bench player, was limited due to nerve damage in his lower back. He could not bend over or run without a visible limp, and the pain was so intense that McMillan missed Games 2 and 3. With Seattle down 3-0 in the Finals, McMillan returned to help ward off elimination. McMillan played only 14 minutes and attempted three shots (swishing two from 3-point distance), but his role as backup point guard freed up Gary Payton to have one of his best scoring games of the series (21 points).

From The New York Times recap of Game 4, the article asked rhetorically: How was this possible?

“Nate, Nate McMillan,” Payton was quoted in the story.​

What happens when an assistant coach moves over 1 seat?

6. Sarge-less in Seattle

McMillan simply didn’t show up barking in Portland. “Sarge” led his troops the same way during his time in Seattle (2000-2005). In a 2006 interview with ESPN.com before facing the SuperSonics as a rival for the first time, McMillan was asked about the former players who criticized his “tough-nosed approach.”

“As a coach, like any teacher or any parent, you try to get the most out of your students. You push them. And sometimes it is tough love,” McMillan told ESPN.com.

“… There is a price to pay for success.”

7. “Time for a change…”

Even hot and popular coaches lose their spark. In March 2012, during an underachieving season surrounded by uninspiring players, McMillan was fired. The Blazers president at the time, Larry Miller, told reporters McMillan “had lost some of the players.”

“I think he lost the ability to motivate the players and go out and give 100 percent,” Miller said at the 2012 news conference. “To me, that was the issue. We could see that players weren’t playing with the energy level and enthusiasm and weren’t going out there and giving it their all.”

More than a year later, McMillan returned to Portland for the first time as a Pacers assistant coach. And when old “Sarge” was put on the overhead video screen, he got a rousing ovation from the Blazers fans. After that December 2013 game, McMillan spoke to IndyStar and reflected about the end of his time in Portland.

“I think everybody understood that it was time for a change,” McMillan said, “including me.”

8. The big assist

In 2013, this is what Frank Vogel said of McMillan: “He’s helped me a ton especially (with) in-game management, with game planning as well. Just having that head coach mind-set, the number of games that he’s coached he’s made all those decisions.”

“And really not just in games,” Vogel continued, “all the decisions that go into being a head coach from managing your video guys to your travel schedule to when to practice, when not to practice. When to rest guys, how to use your rotation, all the head coaching decisions, he’s been there. He’s (meant) a great deal to me.”

9. The trio

There have been only three men to hold the title “associate head coach” with the Pacers — and after a short time in the position, each one parlayed it into a head coaching job.

Mike Brown held the role from 2003-05 before becoming the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach in the 2005-06 season. Brian Shaw served his associate duty from 2011-13, then left for his first head coaching job with the Denver Nuggets.

10. Like father, like son

McMillan’s only son, Jamelle, recently completed his fourth season with the New Orleans Pelicans. In 2012-13, Jamelle McMillan was a coaching intern before moving into his current role as player development coach. According to a story posted on www.pelicans.com, McMillan “works closely with Pelicans players to improve their games.” McMillan, a former Arizona State point guard who played overseas, was asked about the best piece of coaching advice given to him by his father.

“To believe in yourself and to understand where you’ve been and opportunities you’ve had, all the coaches you’ve played for before, what you’ve learned,” McMillan told Pelicans.com. “You always need to go the extra mile, yard or inch, whatever needs to be done.”

Good advice, but father’s teams still have crushed the son’s. Since the 2013-14 season, Nate McMillan’s first in Indiana, the Pacers have a 6-0 record against the Pelicans.

Follow IndyStar Pacers Insider Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

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