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Bronny James has been on a strong developmental path since he was selected No. 55 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft. While it was clear from early minutes in the NBA last season that he wasn’t quite ready, he made massive strides in the G League, and the difference between his Summer League showings in 2024 and 2025 proved that completely. Now, the Lakers have an intriguing decision ahead. Their guard rotation is relatively locked in with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Marcus Smart and Gabe Vincent. But injuries happen, and getting through an 82-game season requires more than just four players at the guard position. That is why Lakers assistant Nate McMillan, who recently appeared on “The Sports Shop” with Reese and K-Mac, believes that Bronny might be in line to get real rotational minutes this season.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth from year one. He had, I thought, a really good Summer League this year. A young guy like that coming in with this type of pressure that he came into the league with last year was unbelievable. When we played in the Las Vegas Summer League last year and this year, his games were sold out to see him. The fanbase has really, I think for the most part, been really supportive of him. He spent a lot of time in the G League this season and I really feel that helped him because when he came out into this Summer League…you could see the confidence. He was much more relaxed than he was last year. Everybody would have been as nervous as can be last season but he was much more relaxed this season. His shot was never broken but the confidence, you could see he was knocking down those shots, getting to the basket. Defensively, we wanted him to challenge himself to pick up the ball…I love Bronny. Great young man and we expect him to possibly get some minutes this year.”
Nate McMillan on joining Lakers coaching staff: I was semi-retired and basically back here in North Carolina enjoying life and uh really working on my foundation and working with uh the young boys uh that we have in our program. We've been in existence for the past three years. Very good program. So, I was really committed and still am committed to this mentorship program, but I was talking on the phone to my son and my son and JJ Redick worked together in New Orleans. He was an assistant coach there. So, he worked with JJ in New Orleans and we're on the phone and he looks at his text and he said, "Dad, you know, JJ just text me and asked me if you would be interested in coaching." So, I said, "Well, give him my number and we'll talk." And I knew that he had just accepted a job for the Lakers. So, when the Lakers come calling, you're going to listen, and so I said, "Give him my number." He called me right away and we got into conversation and he talked about his plans for coaching with the Lakers and he talked about the staff that he wanted to put together and he felt that he needed to put together. He felt like he needed some experience, some gray beards on the bench. And he talked about Scotty Brooks uh coming on board but he wanted to reach out to me first.
Saturday, if there was any hostility between the organization and James, it never showed up in any obvious ways. He arrived with his wife, Savannah, daughter, Zhuri, and a group of his closest friends. James arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday morning after attending a Bad Bunny concert in Puerto Rico on Friday night. James sat near Lakers assistant Greg St. Jean for most of the third quarter. Earlier, he spoke with other members of the coaching staff in attendance, a group that included assistants Nate McMillan and Bob Beyer, and teammate Dalton Knecht, who didn’t dress after playing in four games with the summer league team over the past four weeks.
Lakers team sources believe they have the coaching staff required to make Deandre Ayton signing work
For Ayton, who turns 27 at the end of July, the opportunity to re-establish himself couldn’t be more clear. While his contract with the Lakers has a second-year player option, no one involved wants him to exercise it — the hope being that he far outplays that $8 million valuation and commands way more next summer. Team sources believe the Lakers have the right coaching staff to make that happen. In JJ Redick, they have a deadly serious head coach who also understands how to relate to players. Assistant Scott Brooks worked with Ayton in Portland two years ago, and Nate McMillan has either played or coached with or against virtually every personality type the NBA’s ever concocted. And if not, the Lakers have maintained their flexibility for next summer and beyond.
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Washburn’s collegiate days were as electric as they were turbulent. A high school phenom, he joined a stacked NC State squad that included Vinny Del Negro, Nate McMillan, Lorenzo Charles and Spud Webb.“I played with Spud my freshman year… during those 10 games we went 10-0,” said Washburn. “I got suspended for those little stereo pranks that I did and then they lost the next 7 games,” Washburn recalls. “Fast forward to my sophomore year, now we have Nate at the point guard, we have Vinny at the 2… me and Shackleford were the same size, so a lot of times he would guard the center and I would guard the forward… I really never watched sports on tv, I never knew how loaded we really were
Even those who are close to Karl, like former player and current Lakers assistant Nate McMillan, believe Karl’s candor in the book will have lasting implications, particularly when it comes to Coby’s chances to get a head job. “When you say things like that, it can get under people’s skin. This whole thing is about networking and who you know. If people feel a certain way, or look at you in a certain way, it can make it hard,” McMillan said. “But if it wasn’t for Coby, I don’t think George would have many regrets about what he said. A lot of what he said is real … it’s just things that other people wouldn’t say.”
Draymond Green passes Nate McMillan in assists
Jorge Sierra: Draymond Green passed Nate McMillan in assists and is now No. 75 all-time. Also: Trae Young tied Dell Curry in three-pointers for No. 93. Now only 2,800 threes away from Steph.
Darius Miles: Funny story—Nate McMillan becomes the head coach, and we go to training camp about an hour away from Portland. We get to camp, and we’re staying in a Holiday Inn or a Days Inn—some spot like that. It wasn’t even the type of hotel we normally stayed in, but it was a small town, so I understood. But then they tell us, "We gotta share rooms." I looked at Z-Bo like, "Hold up. So I gotta sit in a room with another dude, smelling his funk? What if I want to be on the phone with my old lady? I can’t talk to my old lady?" Me and Z-Bo took offense to that. I was like, "Bro, I got a black card in my wallet. Man, this is crazy!" So me and Z-Bo got our own rooms. Next thing you know, we go to the team meeting, and the first thing Nate McMillan says is, "Who in here got their own room?" Only ones were me and Z-Bo. He looked at us and said, "Y’all can get the f*** up out of here." So me and Z-Bo just walked out! We went to TGI Fridays and got something to eat.
Nate McMillan: I'm done with head coaching jobs
“I’m over the first seat. I’m done with that,” McMillan said. “My thing is to assist JJ and give him my thoughts, and whatever he decides, assist him on his decision. I’m not the offensive coach. I’m not the defensive coach. I just kind of chat with everybody, help with game management, and, if he has any questions, tell him what I see.”
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Redick says they have both been “perfect fits” because each can offer a different perspective. “I call both of them my spiritual gurus,” Redick said. “They are great with the X’s and O’s stuff — our entire staff is — but I think with them, it’s just … they have seen everything having been in the NBA 35-40 years. There are three or four times a week where I’m like, ‘Hey, did I handle that right? How should I handle this … and what did your teams do when they were going through X, Y, Z?’ They have lived it all.”
The series was tied 2-2, and as Game 5 unfolded, McMillan and Brooks found themselves tangled and locked up with each other on several occasions. In the third quarter, McMillan drove left and tried to lose Brooks on a screen by teammate Derrick McKey. Brooks bounced off McKey and immediately re-engaged with McMillan, touching and bumping him along the way.
McMillan continued driving and rose toward the basket, his elbow catching Brooks flush on the chin. Brooks responded by lunging at McMillan and grabbing his jersey near the armpits. Brooks pushed McMillan into the basket stanchion.
Over the last 31 years, McMillan said he and Brooks never really talked to each other about their confrontation. Even in the immediate wake of the fight, before Game 6, there was no handshake, no apology, no nothing. And it pretty much stayed that way for three decades. “We didn’t acknowledge that until we coached against each other,” McMillan said. “And even then, we would just kind of nod at each other and smile. But you know, in the back of your mind it’s … that’s the guy …”
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