McMillan: Missing Piece in the SuperSonics’ Puzzle

He’s outlasted K.C. Jones and Bernie Bickerstaff. He’s earned his stripes by enduring, among other things, crazy episodes like the fight between the wives of Dale Ellis and Alton Lister, a locker room threat by a former teammate to shoot Gary Payton, and the time when Ellis popped Xavier McDaniel, starting a brawl that spilled out of the gym and into the streets like one of those saloon brawls in the old west. He even renounced his captaincy last year when he thought the young stars, Payton and Shawn Kemp, were avoiding responsibility. Through all the ups and downs, for 10 years now, Nate McMillan has been the dignified rock of stability for a team that always seemed to find controversy.

He’s never played in an NBA All-Star game, never had a double-digit scoring average and sometimes hasn’t even been a starter. But the SuperSonics know he is as valuable to this team as Kemp and Payton. As Michael Jordan said, “Nate’s their catalyst as much as Kemp. He’s the connecting piece to their puzzle.” Already an underdog against the Bulls, the Sonics were at a real disadvantage when a herniated disc in McMillan’s back limited him to just six minutes in Game 1, and no action at all in Games 2 and 3.

When McMillan snatched off his sweats about 10 minutes into Game 4, the Key Arena exploded into a cheer so deafening McMillan was at once overwhelmed and embarrassed. He played only 14 minutes, but the transformation in the Sonics was obvious. McMillan took over as playmaker and allowed Payton to focus on scoring and defending Jordan. He set up Hersey Hawkins in his favorite spots and got the big men -- Kemp, Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf -- to post up more aggressively. Now, don’t get carried away and confuse this with Willis Reed limping into Madison Square Garden to duel Wilt and the Lakers on May 8, 1970. McMillan ain’t Reed, but he was Seattle’s most valuable player in the stay-alive effort of Game 4, even if he did take only three shots and score just eight points. “He gave them an energy boost we hadn’t seen in the series,” Chicago’s Scottie Pippen said.

Whether McMillan can provide that kind of boost again Friday night in Game 5 is something not even he knows. The herniated disc hasn’t produced pain in McMillan’s back, but in his hamstrings and now in the back of his knees. He was surprised he walked fairly well Thursday morning and even jogged a little during practice.

“I can shoot the ball okay and do things you have to do in half-court situations,” he said. “My problem is sprinting up and down the floor, jumping, reaching for rebounds. I played yesterday (Wednesday) not knowing or expecting anything. I didn’t know how much or how well I’d be able to play. Whether I brought that energy or whether it came from the fact that we were about to be eliminated, I don’t know. I just know it’s been very frustrating to be on the sidelines at a time like this.

“I’ve never been in the finals of anything, from Little League to college,” he said. “And here we are with a chance to play against the best player to ever play this game (Jordan) and against one of the best teams to ever play this game. ... And it’s a style that fits my game, up-and-down, defense is involved, transition is involved, athleticism. It’s not a half-court game like the Utah series where your talents are disguised. This is wide-open basketball. I’ve felt helpless, like I was letting my teammates down.”

McMillan will come to the Key Arena Friday at about 3 p.m., more than three hours before game time, to stretch, shoot, ice down, then report how he feels to George Karl. Suppose that twinge in his hamstrings prevents him from walking, keeping him sidelined during Game 5? “I’ll empty the Advil bottle tomorrow before I let that happen,” he said.

Seattle’s prospects for winning another game and forcing the series back to Chicago almost hinge on McMillan’s ability to be on the floor for 10 to 15 minutes. Karl says, unabashedly, “Most people in Seattle know Nate’s my favorite player. He does nothing for himself except try to win for this team. I told him this morning, ‘I knew you were important to us defensively. I never knew you were so important to us offensively.’ When he’s out there we have better spacing, better passing, better play-calling selection. ... In a series like this, against a team as great as the Bulls are defensively, they’re constantly taking more and more things away from you offensively as the series continues. All of a sudden yesterday (Wednesday) we found out, “Hey, we can do this now!’ It’s because Nate could call plays and create plays we couldn’t call on before. He gave us so much mentally.”

Simply relieving Payton of the pressure of handling the ball every trip upcourt against Chicago’s defense counted for a lot. For example, free of ballhandling duties, Payton got free for four layups in the first half of Game 4. McMillan “gets them organized and he settles them down,” Chicago’s Steve Kerr said.

Jordan was effusive about McMillan, even though he went to North Carolina and McMillan is from hated rival North Carolina State. “He’s quiet, unassuming,” Jordan said. “He’s a valuable component to a team. He did it in college and he’s done it in the pros. He’s a likable guy, from the basketball court to off the court. I can understand why Seattle has missed him those three games.”

He has been Seattle’s sixth man, he has been the team’s most versatile defender, and even now, with Payton an All-Star, McMillan is probably the best passer -- which is why he’s the club’s No. 1 all-time assist man and steals leader.

He ranks in the top 10 in 10 different Sonics categories. And in every one of those departments, Seattle can use his help again Friday in another game of win-or-else.