Milton Sigmund Palacio (born February 7, 1978) is a Belizean 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 ...

coach and former player.

Early life

Palacio, a

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

an citizen, was born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

by Belizean parents.

College career

Palacio attended Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, California. He 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 ...

at Midland College and

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. In his three years with the Rams, Palacio averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. In 2023, Palacio was inducted into the Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

In a seven-year NBA career, from 1999 to 2006, Palacio played for the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. The Grizzlies competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Midwest Division (NBA), Midwest Division of the Western Conference ( ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, Phoenix Suns,

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

and

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

, with a career scoring average of 4.8 points per game. His most notable achievement was scoring a

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

for the Celtics in their shocking victory over the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

on December 28, 2000. With the Nets leading 111–109 and inbounding the ball with less than 2 seconds remaining, Palacio stole a pass from Lucious Harris and threw up an off-balance shot with one hand from 30 feet away. Improbably, the shot was made, giving the Celtics a 112–111 victory. Basketball writers dubbed Palacio with the nickname "Miracle Milt", as a recognition of this incredible incident. Despite a solid season with the Jazz, Palacio was a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

at the start of the 2006–07 preseason. He eventually caught on with the Seattle SuperSonics, but was waived before the regular season start, unable to unseat Mike Wilks as the third-string point guard behind Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson. In the 2007–08 season, Palacio began an overseas adventure, signing for ex-European champions Partizan in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. While struggling mightily at times to begin the year, he learned the European game quickly, playing some great basketball in the second half of the season and being named Euroleague's MVP for the month of March 2008, helping Partizan reach the last 8 of the competition for the first time in 10 years. In this season Palacio won triple crown with Partizan, winning the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

and

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

. During the 2008 summer transfer window, Palacio moved to the Russian team Khimki. After a year there, in September 2009, he rejoined Partizan, but was released from his contract few weeks later, after he had not joined the team on time. On January 5, 2010, Palacio signed a contract with the Greek League team Kavala. In 16 games for Kavala, Palacio averaged 10.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game, which has helped the club avoid relegation. On May 4, 2010, Palacio moved to Spain and signed with Caja Laboral by the end of the 2009–10 season. He helped the Basque team to win the national title for the third time in the club history, beating

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

3–0 in the final series. He then returned to Kavala in August 2010, signing a one-year contract. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals during the regular season, and thus led the team to the playoffs. After the team was eliminated by

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

, Palacio again moved to Caja Laboral until the end of the 2010–11 season. In August 2011, Palacio signed a one-year deal with Blu:sens Monbús, where he averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 assists in the 2011–12 season. During the summer of 2012, Palacio played for

Piratas de Quebradillas ''Piratas'' () is a Spanish adventure drama television series with comedy elements created by Carlos Portela and which stars Óscar Jaenada, Pilar Rubio and Silvia Abascal. It aired on Telecinco in 2011. Premise Set in the 18th century, the fi ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. He started the 2012–13 season with Bnei HaSharon in Israel, but finished with

Lietuvos rytas ''Lietuvos rytas'' (lit. 'Morning of Lithuania') is a Lithuanian daily newspaper. History and profile "Lietuvos rytas" was established in 1990 on a basis of newspaper "Komjaunimo tiesa". The paper is printed in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is ...

in Lithuania.

Coaching career

In 2013, Palacio joined Don Verlin's staff at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

as director of player development. On September 20, 2019, Palacio was rehired as an assistant coach by the Long Island Nets, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets after a successful 2018–2019 season. On August 2, 2021, Palacio was hired as an assistant coach by the

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 ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). On October 7, 2021, Palacio was placed on administrative leave when he was indicted with a group of former NBA players who had allegedly committed insurance fraud.

National team career

In his first international tournament, Palacio led

to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the 1998 CARICOM Basketball Championship, which the country hosted. Palacio was also a member of the team that won a silver medal at the 2009 FIBA COCABA Championship, held in

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, losing in the finals of the hosts 106–103.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

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Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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, 41 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .385 , , .353 , , .706 , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , 28 , , 1 , , 9.7 , , .380 , , .143 , , .783 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 59 , , 13 , , 20.5 , , .349 , , .154 , , .662 , , 1.7 , , 3.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 4 , , 19.2 , , .446 , , .167 , , .742 , , 1.7 , , 3.5 , , .6 , , .2 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, 71 , , 18 , , 19.4 , , .424 , , .063 , , .653 , , 1.9 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .2 , , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 470 , , 88 , , 17.9 , , .419 , , .235 , , .719 , , 1.8 , , 2.5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.8

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;, 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;", Partizan , 23 , , 23 , , 29.5 , , .381 , , .269 , , .779 , , 2.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 12.5 , , 10.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 23 , , 23 , , 29.5 , , .381 , , .269 , , .779 , , 2.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 12.5 , , 10.5