Sam Mitchell (basketball)

Sam Mitchell

Mitchell with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014
Personal information
Born	(1963-09-02) September 2, 1963 Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Columbus (Columbus, Georgia)
College	Mercer (1981–1985)
NBA draft	1985: 3rd round, 54th overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career	1985–2002
Position	Small forward
Number	42, 5
Coaching career	2002–2019
Career history
As player:
1985–1986	Wisconsin Flyers
1986	Tampa Bay Flash
1986–1987	Rapid City Thrillers
1987–1989	Montpellier
1989–1992	Minnesota Timberwolves
1992–1995	Indiana Pacers
1995–2002	Minnesota Timberwolves
As coach:
2002–2004	Milwaukee Bucks (assistant)
2004–2008	Toronto Raptors
2010–2012	New Jersey Nets (assistant)
2014–2015	Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
2015–2016	Minnesota Timberwolves (interim)
2018–2019	Memphis (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: TAAC Player of the Year (1985) 2× First-team All-TAAC (1984, 1985) No. 42 retired by Mercer Bears As coach: NBA Coach of the Year (2007)
Career NBA statistics
Points	8,636 (8.7 ppg)
Rebounds	3,711 (3.7 rpg)
Assists	1,089 (1.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Samuel E. Mitchell Jr. (born September 2, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Playing at small forward, Mitchell's 18-year professional basketball career spanned three decades, and was most notable for his ten seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA), whom he also coached as an interim for the 2015-16 season. Mitchell coached for the Toronto Raptors 2004 to 2008 as well, winning Coach of the Year Award in 2007.

Mitchell has since worked as an analyst for TSN, NBA TV, and works as a talk show co-host/analyst on SiriusXM NBA Radio.

Early years

Mitchell graduated from Columbus High School in 1981. He spent the next four years playing college basketball at Mercer University (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. Averaging 25 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a senior, Mitchell led the Bears to just their second NCAA tournament in team history in 1985; they would not return for nearly 30 years, until the 2014 tournament.

Mitchell had enlisted in the Army during his junior year, and at the conclusion of the 1985 NCAA tournament he went to boot camp at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He left one month later when he was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 7th pick of the 3rd round (54th overall) in the 1985 NBA draft. However he was cut during final cuts and joined the Wisconsin Flyers of the Continental Basketball Association.

Unhappy in the CBA, Mitchell quit the team midway through the season to return home to Georgia, where a former professor hired him a Special Education teacher for the remainder of the school year. With his summer off, he tried out for the U.S. Basketball League, and joined the Tampa Bay Flash, who he helped lead to the league title. He rejoined the Rockets for training camp afterwards, but was once again cut and joined the CBA, splitting the season between the Wisconsin Flyers and Rapid City Thrillers. He then joined the French LNB Pro A team of Montpellier Basket (coached by Pierre Galle) for the end of the 1987–88 and the whole 1988–89 season.

Success overseas led to a renewed interest from the NBA, and Mitchell earned a contract with the newly formed Minnesota Timberwolves. He spent three years in Minnesota, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers. While having a smaller role with the Pacers than he did with the Timberwolves, Mitchell did help Indiana reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994-95. Following that season, he returned to Minnesota. Kevin Garnett was drafted by the Timberwolves out of high school that year, and Mitchell has been credited with helping Garnett's development. Mitchell retired from the league following the 2001-02 season.

Coaching career

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.

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. 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.

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, which later made him the first foreign-born player to coach a team in the NBA. 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." 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 reassigned to a scouting position.

On 2012, Sam Mitchell named head coach of USA select to 2012 William Jones Cup in Taiwan and his team finished bronze medal.

On June 16, 2014, Mitchell was hired as an assistant coach by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On September 11, 2015, Mitchell became the Timberwolves' interim head coach after Flip Saunders had to take a leave of absence to receive treatment after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On October 25, 2015, Saunders died at age 60. For the rest of the season, Mitchell became the official head coach, although he would still be treated as an interim coach. During his sole season coaching the Timberwolves, he would coach them to the fifth-worst record in the league with a 29–53 record.

On April 13, 2016, Mitchell was relieved of his interim head coaching duties as the coach of the Timberwolves after the last game of the season, allowing them to look for a permanent coach. He would then be replaced by former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau.

On June 13, 2018, Mitchell was hired by the University of Memphis as assistant coach under Penny Hardaway.

After one year as one of Memphis' assistant coaches, Sam Mitchell is no longer with the program.

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
*	Led the league

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1989–90	Minnesota	80	30	30.2	.446	.000	.768	5.8	1.1	.8	.7	12.7
1990–91	Minnesota	82	60	38.1	.441	.000	.775	6.3	1.6	.8	.7	14.6
1991–92	Minnesota	82	63	26.2	.423	.182	.786	5.8	1.1	.6	.5	10.1
1992–93	Indiana	81	1	17.3	.445	.174	.811	3.1	.9	.3	.1	7.2
1993–94	Indiana	75	18	14.5	.458	.000	.745	2.5	.9	.4	.1	4.8
1994–95	Indiana	81	12	17.0	.487	.100	.724	3.0	.8	.5	.2	6.5
1995–96	Minnesota	78	42	27.5	.490	.056	.814	4.3	.9	.6	.3	10.8
1996–97	Minnesota	82	5	25.0	.446	.160	.759	4.0	1.0	.6	.2	9.3
1997–98	Minnesota	81	33	27.6	.464	.349	.832	4.8	1.3	.8	.3	12.3
1998–99	Minnesota	50*	20	26.9	.408	.237	.764	3.6	2.0	.7	.3	11.2
1999–00	Minnesota	66	24	18.6	.447	.237	.764	2.1	1.7	.4	.2	6.5
2000–01	Minnesota	82	4	12.0	.408	.209	.727	1.5	.7	.3	.1	3.5
2001–02	Minnesota	74	10	9.8	.432	.286	.776	1.1	.6	.2	.1	3.3
Career		994	322	22.4	.447	.223	.784	3.7	1.1	.6	.3	8.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993	Indiana	4	0	6.3	.625	–	1.000	.3	.0	.0	.0	3.0
1994	Indiana	15	0	6.6	.346	.000	.750	1.1	.3	.1	.1	1.4
1995	Indiana	17	0	13.1	.359	.000	.786	2.8	.4	.2	.1	4.0
1997	Minnesota	3	0	15.7	.462	–	.625	2.3	.3	.3	.3	5.7
1998	Minnesota	5	5	35.4	.448	.214	.895	5.4	1.6	.2	.2	14.4
1999	Minnesota	4	1	32.8	.375	.167	.750	3.5	1.5	.3	.5	10.0
2000	Minnesota	4	0	17.0	.500	.400	1.000	1.8	.5	.0	.3	5.8
2001	Minnesota	4	0	12.5	.200	.000	1.000	1.8	.8	.3	.0	1.5
2002	Minnesota	3	2	11.5	.333	–	1.000	.7	1.0	.3	.3	2.7
Career		59	8	14.5	.398	.207	.813	2.2	.6	.2	.2	4.5

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	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
Toronto	2004–05	82	33	49	.402	4th in Atlantic	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Toronto	2005–06	82	27	55	.329	4th in Atlantic	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Toronto	2006–07	82	47	35	.573	1st in Atlantic	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
Toronto	2007–08	82	41	41	.500	2nd in Atlantic	5	1	4	.200	Lost in First Round
Toronto	2008–09	17	8	9	.471	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Minnesota	2015–16	82	29	53	.354	5th in Northwest	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Career		427	185	242	.433		11	3	8	.273	—

Personal life

Mitchell lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Dawn Session-Mitchell Mitchell has four daughters from a previous marriage.

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