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.

In the 1995-96 season, McMillan helped the Sonics reach the NBA Finals against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. McMillan’s Sonics 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 No. 10 jersey was retired by the Seattle SuperSonics. 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.

Coaching career

Seattle SuperSonics

After retiring in 1998, McMillan stayed with the Seattle franchise, earning a place as an assistant coach. He held this role until 2000, when he was named interim coach of the Sonics. 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, McMillan led the team to 52-45 record in the regular season. The team advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

Portland Trail Blazers

After 19 years with the Seattle organization, 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. McMillan's hard-nosed coaching style earned him the nickname "sarge." McMillan coached the Blazers until 2012.

USA

McMillan was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for the US national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning bronze and gold medals, respectively. He is also a member of the National Junior College Basketball Hall of Fame, due to his All-American performance at Chowan.

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

On March 15, 2012, McMillan was fired as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

McMillan again served as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for the US national team during the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Indiana Pacers

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.

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W-L %	Win-loss %
Post season	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW-L %	Playoff win-loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W-L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW-L%	Result
Seattle	2000-01	67	38	29	.567	5th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Seattle	2001-02	82	45	37	.549	4th in Pacific	5	2	3	.400	Lost in First Round
Seattle	2002-03	82	40	42	.488	5th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Seattle	2003-04	82	37	45	.451	5th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Seattle	2004-05	82	52	30	.634	1st in Northwest	11	6	5	.545	Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Portland	2005-06	82	21	61	.256	5th in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Portland	2006-07	82	32	50	.390	3rd in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Portland	2007-08	82	41	41	.500	3rd in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Portland	2008-09	82	54	28	.659	1st in Northwest	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
Portland	2009-10	82	50	32	.610	3rd in Northwest	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
Portland	2010-11	82	48	34	.585	3rd in Northwest	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
Portland	2011-12	43	20	23	.465	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Career		930	478	452	.514		34	14	20	.412

Personal life

McMillan's son Jamelle McMillan played as a guard for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]