James M. McMillian (March 11, 1948 – May 16, 2016) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. After starring at Thomas Jefferson High School in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, McMillian played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the Columbia Lions. He led Columbia to a three-year mark of 63–14, and their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1968, his sophomore year. The tourney ended with a third-place finish for Columbia in the East regional, and Columbia ended that 1967–68 season the sixth-ranked college team in the nation. "Jimmy Mac" not only was a three-time All-American and All-Ivy Leaguer, he was All-East each year, the ECAC Sophomore of the Year, and became the first person to earn the Haggerty Award in each of his three varsity seasons. He is also known for doing a reverse behind the back layup in the 1972 NBA Finals, winning the 1972 championship in the end. He scored 1,758 career points then a record, now second and averaged 22.9 points per game second-best then and now. McMillian is also second in career rebounds (743) and holds the season records for field goals in a season (253) and career (677). But despite their outstanding winning percentages, his Columbia teams managed only one Ivy League title in a period when they battled tough Princeton teams with Geoff Petrie and John Hummer and Penn teams with Dave Wohl and Corky Calhoun. A tall forward, he was drafted in the first round as the 13th overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA and was also a pick of the Utah Stars of the ABA. He chose the Lakers and spent three years there, scoring 3,714 points, an average of 15.3 per game. In 1972, he helped lead the Lakers to an NBA Championship, averaging 19.1 points per game in the playoffs. He was a key factor in the Lakers' record-setting 33-game winning streak that season. McMillian, who was in his second season that year, replaced Elgin Baylor at forward and the team immediately launched their streak. After the retirement of Wilt Chamberlain, the Lakers needed a center and traded McMillian to the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

for Elmore Smith. He later played for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

. At the end of his career he moved to Italy and played for Sinudyne Bologna for two seasons winning two Italian titles and reaching the final of the European Champions' Cup in 1981 where he did not play due to a serious injury. McMillian's younger brother, Lloyd, played college basketball for the Loyola Marymount Lions and Long Beach State 49ers. McMillian died from complications of heart failure on May 16, 2016.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 81 , , , , 21.6 , , .459 , , , , .769 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , , , , , 8.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 80 , , , , 38.1 , , .482 , , , , .791 , , 6.5 , , 2.6 , , , , , , 18.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 81 , , , , 36.5 , , .458 , , , , .845 , , 5.5 , , 2.7 , , , , , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , , , 40.5 , , .494 , , , , .858 , , 7.4 , , 3.1 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , 18.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 62 , , , , 34.4 , , .499 , , , , .840 , , 6.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 74 , , , , 35.3 , , .536 , , , , .858 , , 5.3 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 67 , , 60 , , 32.2 , , .464 , , , , .779 , , 4.6 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 81 , , 63 , , 24.4 , , .462 , , , , .858 , , 3.6 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .2 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 23 , , , , 12.1 , , .446 , , , , .810 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 631 , , 123 , , 32.1 , , .482 , , , , .832 , , 5.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 13.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 12, , , , 43.5, , .436, , , , .676, , 5.4, , 1.8, , , , , , 15.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

† , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 15, , , , 41.6, , .447, , , , .857, , 5.7, , 1.5, , , , , , 19.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 17, , , , 37.1, , .466, , , , .733, , 4.8, , 2.2, , , , , , 20.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1974 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 6, , , , 37.3, , .413, , , , .688, , 8.8, , 2.0, , .7, , .2, , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 7, , , , 34.3, , .453, , , , .929, , 4.9, , 2.0, , 1.6, , .3, , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 9, , , , 38.7, , .473, , , , .868, , 4.1, , 2.1, , 1.6, , .4, , 17.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, style="text-align:left;", New York , 6, , , , 22.3, , .453, , , , .833, , 3.5, , 1.8, , 1.2, , .0, , 8.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 72 , , , , 37.8 , , .451 , , , , .791 , , 5.2 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 16.6

References

External links

*
Jim McMillian
– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

The book "Buffalo, Home of the Braves", complete narrative and photo history of the Buffalo Braves
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillian, Jim 1948 births 2016 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Buffalo Braves players Columbia Lions men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Los Angeles Stars draft picks New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Raeford, North Carolina Portland Trail Blazers players Shooting guards Small forwards Columbia College (New York) alumni Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni Utah Stars draft picks Virtus Bologna players