When Nate McMillan’s name pops up in the news, you typically want it to be for a good reason. “Mr. Sonic” is not only beloved in the Emerald City, but respected in most circles in the basketball world.
If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have had four NBA head-coaching stints (Seattle, Portland, Indiana and Atlanta) over the past 22 years — with each stop resulting in multiple playoff appearances. Unfortunately, the Nate news Tuesday was that he’d been fired by the Hawks — which makes one wonder: Was that his last dance as an NBA head coach?
Most fans around these parts know what McMillan accomplished as a player. He suited up 796 times for the Sonics, third most in team history, and accumulated 4,893 assists, the second most of any Sonic.
He also was a two-time member of the NBA All-Defensive second team and led the league in steals in 1994. Some folks wonder how the 1996 Finals would have shaken out if McMillan was healthy in Games 2 and 3, which the Bulls won to establish a 3-0 series lead. He was a key absence — something that seemed true every time he left a head-coaching position, too.
McMillan coached the Sonics for five seasons, leading them to a 52-30 record and into the second round of playoffs in 2005. After he left for the Blazers the following season, Seattle posted three straight losing records.
McMillan coached the Pacers from 2015-2020, reaching the playoffs in all five of his seasons. In the years since McMillan was fired, Indiana has gone 34-38, 25-57, and is currently 26-34.
In between those gigs was Nate’s stretch with the Blazers, whom he took to the playoffs three straight times when Brandon Roy was healthy. They went 33-49 the year after he was let go, although, to successor Terry Stotts’ credit, they quickly began to flourish.
No one here is saying McMillan is a Hall of Fame-caliber coach. He has, however, consistently produced results — even when those results seemed unattainable.
The Hawks, for example, were 14-20 when they fired Lloyd Pierce as their head coach in 2021. When McMillan took over, they went on an eight-game winning streak, finished the season 41-31 and reached the Eastern Conference finals. This caused Atlanta’s front office to shed the interim tag off Nate’s title, and the next year, the Hawks went 43-39.
Upon McMillan’s firing Tuesday, Atlanta was 29-30 and in eighth place in the East. Not terrible, but with All-Stars such as Trae Young and Rainier Beach product Dejounte Murray on the roster, well short of expectations.
“Decisions like these, especially in season, are always extremely difficult, but we believe it’s in the best interest of our team to move forward with another voice leading the way,” Hawks general manager Landry Fields said Tuesday.
Interestingly enough, the leading candidate to replace McMillan long term is Mercer Island’s Quin Snyder, who led the Jazz to the playoffs in each of his last six seasons in Utah. But this isn’t about Snyder right now — it’s about Nate and whether this was his last hurrah as head coach in the NBA.
Some owners might look at his résumé and conclude that he has never won on the biggest stage. There is truth to that. The aforementioned run to the conference finals is the only time a McMillan-coached team made it past the second round.
The phrase is “championship or bust,” not “relevancy or bust,” and Nate has never proven he can compete for a title.
At the same time, the NBA is a players’ league. Put a prime Phil Jackson in charge of the present-day Hornets, give him Red Auerbach and Gregg Popovich as assistants, and they’d still miss the playoffs.
I think it’s important to look at how teams improved upon McMillan’s arrival, and how they descended (for the most part) after his departure. Relevancy may not be the end game, but it’s difficult to achieve if you’re a small or midmarket franchise — which describes all the organizations McMillan has coached.
It’s been a heck of ride for McMillan in his post-playing career — even if it’s been short on Champagne. His track record says he deserves another shot at a head-coaching job, but if this is it, he’s been a success.