Nate McMillan
1986 NBA Draft: Round 2, Pick 6 (30th overall) by Seattle SuperSonics
While everyone is familiar with Nate McMillan as a coach his introduction to the NBA came as a player. Like Andre Roberson, much of what McMillan accomplished can’t be found on a stats sheet. Rather, McMillan was among the first of many defensive guards to grace the court for Seattle and OKC.
The categories where the stats do the guard justice is assists and steals. McMillan’s best season dishing dimes came in his third year (9.3 per game) and in his eighth season averaged a staggering 3.0 steals per game which led the NBA.
Mr. Sonic
Like Collison, the point guard played the entirety of his career (12 seasons) with the same franchise. He arrived too late to be a part of the Seattle championship team but was an integral part of the team which contended throughout the ’90s. McMillan shares a similarity to Nick Collison in that he was dubbed Mr. Sonic by the Seattle fanbase.
His name is etched in franchise lore with multiple honors and entry to the top 10 lists. He made the All-Defensive second team in two successive seasons (93-94 and 94-95). In terms of franchise records, McMillan ranks third in total assists (4,894) behind only Payton and Westbrook.
His 1,544 total steals ranks second only to Payton and he places fourth in total games played with 796. For his efforts, his is one of the jerseys which was retired into the rafters in Seattle.