_(cropped).jpg) Mitchell with theMinnesota Timberwolves in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1963-09-02)September 2, 1963 (age 62) Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| 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 |
| Drafted by | Houston Rockets |
| Playing career | 1985–2002 |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 42, 5 |
| Coaching career | 2002–2019 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 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 |
Coaching | |
| 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 | |
As player:
As coach: | |
| 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 atBasketball Reference | |
Samuel E. Mitchell Jr. (born September 2, 1963) is an American former professionalbasketball player and coach. Playing atsmall forward, Mitchell's 18-year professional basketball career spanned three decades, and was most notable for his ten seasons with theNBA'sMinnesota Timberwolves, whom he also coached as an interim for the2015–16 season. Mitchell coached for theToronto Raptors from 2004 to 2008 as well, winningCoach of the Year Award in 2007.
Mitchell has since worked as an analyst forTSN,NBA TV, and works as a talk show co-host/analyst onSiriusXM NBA Radio.
Mitchell graduated fromColumbus High School in 1981. He spent the next four years playing college basketball atMercer University (1981–85), and scored nearly 2,000 points, becoming the leading scorer inBears history. He led the team to both the regular-season and postseasonTrans 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 in1985; they would not return for nearly 30 years, until the2014 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 atFort Bragg, North Carolina. He left one month later when he was drafted by theHouston Rockets with the 7th pick of the 3rd round (54th overall) in the1985 NBA draft. However, he was cut during final cuts and joined theWisconsin Flyers of theContinental Basketball Association (CBA).
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 won aCBA championship with the Thrillers in 1987.[1] He then joined the FrenchLNB Pro A team ofMontpellier Basket (coached byPierre 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-formedMinnesota Timberwolves. As a 26-year-old rookie, Mitchell averaged 17.3 points per game in his first 28 appearances while finishing the year at 12.7 per night. He spent three years in Minnesota, before being traded to theIndiana Pacers. While having a smaller role with the Pacers than he did with the Timberwolves, Mitchell did help Indiana reach the Eastern Conference Finals in1994–95. Following that season, he returned to Minnesota. Future All-StarKevin 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 the2001–02 season.
Mitchell returned to the NBA almost immediately after his retirement as an assistant coach with theMilwaukee Bucks for two seasons until 2004. He then briefly became a part of the expansionCharlotte Bobcats as their top assistant coach.[2]
Mitchell moved on to theToronto Raptors when he was named as the sixth head coach in Raptors history after incumbentKevin 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 theAtlantic Division. On March 30, 2007, Mitchell got his 100th win as NBA coach when the Raptors defeated theWashington Wizards at theVerizon Center.[3]
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 the2006–07 season. On April 24, 2007, he was named 2006–07NBA Coach of the Year.[4] 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.[5]
On November 25, 2007, Mitchell surpassedLenny 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 the2008–09 season, Mitchell was relieved of his duties as the team's head coach. Assistant coachJay 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.[6] The firing was ridiculed by theTNT 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."[7] In fact, the Raptors went 25–40 the rest of the season.
Mitchell was hired as an assistant coach by theNew Jersey Nets on July 19, 2010. On December 6, 2011, Nets hiredP.J. Carlesimo andMario 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 theMinnesota Timberwolves.[8]
On September 11, 2015, Mitchell became the Timberwolves' interim head coach afterFlip Saunders had to take a leave of absence to receive treatment after being diagnosed withHodgkin lymphoma.[9] 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.[10] He would then be replaced by formerChicago Bulls head coachTom Thibodeau.
On June 13, 2018, Mitchell was hired by theUniversity of Memphis as assistant coach underPenny Hardaway.[11]
After one year as one of Memphis's assistant coaches, Sam Mitchell left the program.
Mitchell has since worked as an analyst onNBA TV.
Mitchell was involved in an incident with co-host Chris Miles during the preseason in October 2024, where Mitchell appeared to take an apparent humorous comment from Miles regarding the two's salary personally and began making remarks about Miles' own pay and properties.[12][13] Mitchell subsequentlydoxxed the anchor's apparent home address inFlorida while Miles attempted to go to commercial.[14][15]
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 inFirst Round |
| Toronto | 2007–08 | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | 2nd in Atlantic | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost inFirst 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 | — |
Mitchell lives inAtlanta, Georgia with his wife, Dawn Session-Mitchell.[16] Mitchell has four children from a previous marriage.[2]
Mitchell's half-brother,Fessor Leonard, played basketball professionally in Europe.[17]