LOS ANGELES — It was one week into his new job as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers when JJ Redick had a sudden rush of horror.
He had simply employed his first two assistant coaches, and he couldn’t have been extra happy. Nate McMillan had 19 years of NBA head-coaching expertise. And Scott Brooks spent 12 years as an NBA head coach. Each performed level guard within the NBA, McMillan for 12 seasons and Brooks for 10. They’d a mixed 1,281 wins as coaches.
It was the right mix of expertise, information and credibility that Redick felt he wanted beside him as a first-time coach.
However then, the frenzy of horror: Somebody despatched him a video.
As Redick watched, his jaw dropped. There on his display have been McMillan and Brooks at one another’s throats throughout a 1993 playoff recreation. Their dust-up — McMillan elbowing Brooks within the jaw as he drove baseline, and Brooks launching into McMillan in retaliation — sparked a bench-clearing brawl within the third quarter of Recreation 5 between McMillan’s Seattle SuperSonics and Brooks’ Houston Rockets.
Each McMillan and Brooks have been ejected and later fined.
“I used to be like, ‘Jesus! How did I not know this?’” Redick remembers saying to himself.
Earlier than Redick had watched the video, he had scheduled a video name with McMillan and Brooks for the subsequent day. He deliberate to speak performs, philosophy and ask the veteran coaches how they’d map out coaching camp. Now, realizing what he knew about their previous, he felt he wanted a special opening to the assembly.
“So, I get on the Zoom the subsequent day, and am like, ‘Uh, first off … are you guys OK? Are we good right here? As a result of I used to be unaware,’” Redick mentioned.
During the last 31 years, McMillan mentioned he and Brooks by no means actually talked to one another about their confrontation. Even within the instant wake of the combat, earlier than Recreation 6, there was no handshake, no apology, no nothing.
And it just about stayed that method for 3 a long time.
“We didn’t acknowledge that till we coached towards one another,” McMillan mentioned. “And even then, we’d simply form of nod at one another and smile. However you understand, behind your thoughts it’s … that’s the man …”
When the 2 have been introduced as Redick’s prime assistants on July 3, the stalemate was damaged. Redick mentioned the 2 advised him they linked on the telephone after their hires.
“They labored it out,” Redick mentioned.
Seems, there wasn’t a lot to work out. As gamers, McMillan and Brooks have been by no means probably the most proficient guys on the ground. They’d prolonged careers as a result of they have been sensible and scrappy. The best way every held his floor that day in Seattle may have been another day of their careers: No backing down, no inch given.
So, after the incident, there was no want to deal with it. Neither participant held a grudge. Neither had remorse. It was enterprise as ordinary.
However all these years later, a humorous factor occurred as soon as they joined Redick’s workers and acquired to know one another. McMillan and Brooks discovered they’re linked by extra than simply their scuffle.
“We’re the identical man,” McMillan mentioned.
By the point Recreation 5 arrived within the second-round sequence between Seattle and Houston in 1993, McMillan was on edge.
McMillan and Brooks have been backups — McMillan to Gary Payton and Brooks to Kenny Smith — they usually have been starting to face off extra because the sequence advanced. Brooks’ minutes elevated from 9 and 7 within the first two video games to 21 minutes in Video games 3 and 4. That meant Brooks and McMillan usually going head-to-head.
“They’d (Vernon) Maxwell over there performing loopy and s—, and we have been already fired as much as play them,” McMillan mentioned. “After which, (Brooks) was on the market being a pest, scrapping and clawing for every thing … and I simply had sufficient.”
It was a marquee playoff matchup — Houston and Seattle each completed 55-27 and have been stacked with stars: The Sonics with a younger Payton and Shawn Kemp and Houston with completed veterans Hakeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe and Smith.
In his seventh NBA season, McMillan was a lanky 6-foot-5 ground normal, identified for his regular and dependable choices and dogged protection. Brooks was a pesky, 5-foot-10 jitter bug — a pass-first level guard who took pleasure in being a nuisance on protection.
The sequence was tied 2-2, and as Recreation 5 unfolded, McMillan and Brooks discovered themselves tangled and locked up with one another on a number of events. Within the third quarter, McMillan drove left and tried to lose Brooks on a display by teammate Derrick McKey. Brooks bounced off McKey and instantly re-engaged with McMillan, touching and bumping him alongside the best way.
“They’d been banging fairly good, all recreation,” referee Bob Delaney advised The Athletic. “I believed they’d determine it out a technique or one other.”
They did.
McMillan tried to create house by giving Brooks a nudge along with his elbow. As he continued towards the basket, McMillan gave one other elbow. All of the whereas, Brooks remained unfazed, nonetheless connected to McMillan’s facet.
“At that time, it was like … sufficient is sufficient,” McMillan mentioned.
McMillan continued driving and rose towards the basket, his elbow catching Brooks flush on the chin. Brooks responded by lunging at McMillan and grabbing his jersey close to the armpits. Brooks pushed McMillan into the basket stanchion.
Then, mayhem.
Thorpe threw Kemp to the ground. Gamers dogpiled underneath the basket. Sonics coach George Karl was in the midst of all of it, spinning and spewing, later admitting he was attempting to get Thorpe to punch him so the Rockets ahead would get suspended.
Beneath all of it was McMillan and Brooks.
“I used to be attempting to get beneath him,” McMillan mentioned. “However he was too small … so we simply went to the ground. Somebody acquired put in a chokehold … and we have been all on the ground tussling and all that, however no blows have been thrown or something.”
Delaney, the lead official, broke his proper pinky whereas attempting to interrupt up the quarrel. To today, his pinky juts out at an odd angle.
“So, I’m reminded of that recreation every day,” Delaney mentioned with a chuckle. “And the humorous factor is, these are two good, good guys. Nice guys. It was only a heat-of-the-battle factor.”
McMillan and Karl have been fined $5,000. Brooks was fined $2,000.
The Sonics went on to win Recreation 5, and later the sequence after a 103-100 win in Recreation 7, with the lasting picture of a memorable sequence offered by two backups.
It shouldn’t have been a shock that McMillan and Brooks would discover themselves tussling on the courtroom. Brooks, in spite of everything, was in seventh grade when his mom drove him to the home of a child who beat up Brooks. She watched as her son acquired his revenge on the youngsters’ entrance garden. The lesson: By no means get bullied.
McMillan, in the meantime, had his personal expertise with sticking up for himself. Earlier in his profession, he acquired into it with Maxwell after the Rockets guard undercut him in a recreation, and he fought with huge males Kevin Willis and Mark Bryant.
“Kevin Willis hit me with an affordable shot — a display — and I attempted to take his head off,” McMillan mentioned. “Similar factor with Mark Bryant.”
Brooks, who has taken a no-media stance since becoming a member of the Lakers, twice declined to be interviewed for this story. It’s not as a result of Brooks harbors in poor health emotions or remorse in regards to the incident.
“We giggle about it on a regular basis now,” McMillan mentioned. “The very first thing I noticed once they introduced they’d signed each of us was the video (of the combat). And my daughter (Brittany) was like, ‘Dad!?! What’s going on?’ She had by no means seen that, she didn’t know. And Scotty’s child and spouse mentioned the identical factor: ‘What are you guys doing?’”
It didn’t take lengthy for McMillan to find he and Brooks share one thing greater than a memorable tussle.
“He’s the best MFer, man,” McMillan mentioned. “I may grasp with him.”
McMillan associated to Brooks’ backstory — a 10-year NBA profession after being undrafted — and he remembered his hard-nosed type of play.
“We each needed to come up by way of this s— the laborious method,” McMillan mentioned. “We weren’t scorers; we have been hard-hat guys. Glue guys. We needed to scrap so as to make it on this league.”
As McMillan spent extra time with Brooks, he additionally grew to become drawn to his information and the best way Brooks interacted with folks.
“We’re very related,” McMillan mentioned. “We’re no-nonsense. Old fashioned. However he’s completely different from me in that he can talk in a method that I can’t. Like, you have a look at me, and also you don’t know if we’re up 40 or down 40. Scotty truly smiles. He truly has a character. And that makes him nice with the workers and the staff. Like, I may play for him. Simply a substantial amount of respect for him.”
Scott Brooks (left) and Nate McMillan coached towards one another for years after their brawl as gamers however by no means acknowledged the dust-up till becoming a member of the Lakers workers final summer season. (Mike Ehrmann / Getty Pictures)
When Redick was employed in June, the extent of his sideline expertise was teaching his son’s third-grade staff in Brooklyn. Because of this, Redick mentioned he and Lakers normal supervisor Rob Pelinka wished to rent two former head coaches to help him.
Redick, a sharpshooter who logged 15 seasons within the NBA, by no means performed for McMillan or Brooks. He mentioned his interplay with McMillan was restricted to a 2018 free-agency pitch made by Indiana, when McMillan was the pinnacle coach (Redick selected to signal with Philadelphia). Nonetheless, Redick performed a season and a half with New Orleans, the place McMillan’s son, Jamelle, was a participant growth coach.
“I simply all the time felt actually comfy with the particular person and character of Nate,” Redick mentioned. “And as my title acquired concerned within the teaching stuff, I had a half-dozen folks attain out and say, ‘Non-negotiable, it’s a must to rent Scotty Brooks.”
Redick says they’ve each been “excellent suits” as a result of every can supply a special perspective.
“I name each of them my non secular gurus,” Redick mentioned. “They’re nice with the X’s and O’s stuff — our total workers is — however I believe with them, it’s simply … they’ve seen every thing having been within the NBA 35-40 years. There are three or 4 instances every week the place I’m like, ‘Hey, did I deal with that proper? How ought to I deal with this … and what did your groups do once they have been going by way of X, Y, Z?’ They’ve lived all of it.”
McMillan, who final coached the Atlanta Hawks in 2023, mentioned the supply to affix Redick’s workers was too good to show down. He mentioned he knew he was accomplished with head teaching after being fired by the Hawks, however the likelihood to educate LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and to not need to take care of the complications of being a head coach appealed to him.
“I’m over the primary seat. I’m accomplished with that,” McMillan mentioned. “My factor is to help JJ and provides him my ideas, and no matter he decides, help him on his choice. I’m not the offensive coach. I’m not the defensive coach. I simply form of chat with all people, assist with recreation administration, and, if he has any questions, inform him what I see.”
One of many first items of recommendation McMillan supplied concerned James, one of many recreation’s largest superstars. He implored Redick to carry agency and consider in his system, consider in his teaching, even when James pushes again.
“One factor I’ve discovered as I’ve performed and coached on this league is these stars wish to be coached, too,” McMillan mentioned. “They wish to be coached, they usually should be coached. So, I’m telling JJ right here that LeBron, he’s going to query every thing … as a result of he’s nice. However for those who consider what you’re doing, it’s OK. It’s that outdated saying: If we’re each agreeing on every thing, then s—, we don’t want certainly one of you.’”
JJ Redick employed Brooks (heart) and McMillan with out realizing their historical past. “I used to be like, ‘Jesus! How did I not know this?’’’ Redick remembers saying to himself. (Harry How/Getty Pictures)
McMillan mentioned Redick has been distinctive in the best way he has delivered his message to the Lakers. He mentioned it’s like watching one of many recreation’s Redick referred to as when he was an announcer for ESPN.
“He’s virtually like Hubie (Brown), how if you watch certainly one of his video games, he makes you perceive it,’’ McMillan mentioned. “He’s doing that for his gamers. The X’s and O’s, and placing all that collectively — he has to work on that, and he has (assistant) Greg St. Jean, who is basically serving to him. All that can come. However his skill to speak with gamers, he’s been nice. He challenges all of them; he coaches all of them. And he’s not afraid of LeBron. He respects him, however he says what he thinks and what he needs to say.”
And someplace down the road this season, Redick says he’ll maintain a particular movie session with the staff. It is going to be the clip from Recreation 5 of the 1993 playoffs, when two assistants on the Lakers bench went head-to-head … and past.
“Sooner or later, I’m going to point out that clip to the staff,’’ Redick mentioned. “Simply to allow them to perceive who these two f—s are.’’
(Picture illustration: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic; Getty; Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE, Thearon W. Henderson)