Sam Mitchell (basketball)

Samuel E. "Sam" Mitchell, Jr. (born September 2, 1963) is a retired professional basketball player and a former head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He currently is an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mitchell has also done analyst work for TSN and NBA TV as well as radio work for WHAL-AM in Columbus and WZGC-FM "92.9 The Game" in Atlanta.^[1]

Basketball career

Mitchell, a 6'6" (198 cm), 210 lb (95 kg) small forward, graduated from Columbus High School. Afterwards he played college basketball at the Mercer University for four seasons (1981–85), and scored nearly 2,000 points, becoming the leading scorer in Bears history. He led the team to both the regular-season and postseason Trans-American Atlantic Conference championships in 1985. As a result, the team made the NCAA tournament that year. Then he was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 7th pick of the 3rd round (54th overall) in the 1985 NBA Draft.

Mitchell did not commence play in the NBA after being drafted and until joining 1989 expansion team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in their inaugural season. Prior to his NBA career, he spent three seasons (1985–88) in the Continental Basketball Association, playing for the Wisconsin Flyers and Rapid City Thrillers, and in the French Ligue Nationale de Basketball team of Montpellier (coached by Pierre Galle) for the end of the 1987–88 and the whole 1988–89 season. After that, Mitchell started his NBA career, first spending three seasons with the Timberwolves. During his playing days in Minneapolis, he scored a career-high 37 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 3, 1991. On September 8, 1992 he was traded along with point guard Pooh Richardson to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for small forward Chuck Person and point guard Micheal Williams. After spending three years with the Pacers, he returned to the Timberwolves for the rest of his career, before retiring in 2002. Mitchell ranks second in Wolves history in points, steals and minutes played, and is third in total rebounds.

Mitchell returned to the NBA almost immediately after his retirement as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks for two seasons until 2004. He then briefly became a part of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats as their top assistant coach, until moving on to the Toronto Raptors when he was named as the sixth head coach in Raptors history after incumbent Kevin O'Neill was fired.

Mitchell was named the coach of the month in January 2007 for his effort bringing the Toronto Raptors back to .500 and leading the Atlantic Division. On March 30, 2007, Mitchell got his 100th win as NBA coach when the Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.^[2]

Mitchell, who witnessed his team struggle with rebuilding in his first years as coach, also led the Toronto Raptors to their first division title in franchise history as the team won the Atlantic Division in the NBA's Eastern Conference in the 2006–07 season. On April 24, 2007, he was named 2006–07 NBA Coach of the Year.^[3] On May 22, 2007 after leading the Raptors to their first playoffs appearance since 2002, and after much speculation, Mitchell was signed to a four year contract with the Raptors.^[4]

On November 25, 2007 Mitchell surpassed Lenny Wilkens for the most wins in team history. Mitchell was the longest reigning head coach of the Toronto Raptors.

On December 3, 2008, after leading the Raptors to a disappointing 8–9 start to the 2008–09 season, Mitchell was relieved of his duties as the team's head coach. Assistant coach Jay Triano took over the position of interim head coach of the Raptors.^[5] The firing was ridiculed by the TNT Overtime crew because the Raptors were only one game under .500 at the time of the firing. Chris Webber predicted that they would not be "as good under another coach."^[6] In fact, the Raptors went 25–40 the rest of the season.

Mitchell was hired as an assistant coach by the New Jersey Nets on July 19, 2010. On December 6, 2011, Nets hired P.J. Carlesimo and Mario Elie as new assistant coaches and Mitchell was re-assigned to a scouting position.

On June 14, 2014, Mitchell named an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[7]

Coaching record

Personal life

Mitchell lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and four daughters.^[8]

References

External links

• Sam Mitchell coach profile at NBA.com
• NBA career stats as a player at Basketball-Reference
• NBA career stats as a coach at Basketball-Reference
• Sam Mitchell on Twitter