Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former

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 player. He coached the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

and

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. A first-round draft pick out of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, Skiles played ten seasons as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in the

NBA 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 ...

. He holds the NBA record for assists in one game with 30, set in his fifth season in the league and second with Orlando, in which he also earned the 1990–91

NBA Most Improved Player Award The NBA's Most Improved Player (MIP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the player who has shown the most progress during the regular season compared to previous seasons. The winner is selected by a panel of sportsw ...

High school and college

In 1982, Skiles led Plymouth High School to the Indiana State Championship, scoring 39 points to lead the Pilgrims past the Gary Roosevelt Panthers in double overtime. During that season, Skiles led the state in scoring, averaging 29.3 points per game. Skiles set several school records during his career there, including most points in a home game (53) and most points in an away game (56). He left Plymouth as the school's all-time career scoring leader (1,788 points), a record that would stand until 2005. Skiles had his number 22 jersey retired at Plymouth High School in 1992. Skiles attended

, where in his senior season he was a First Team All-America selection as well as the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

Player of the Year and scoring champion. He left MSU as its all-time career scoring leader (2,145 points) and still holds the Spartans' record for most points scored in a season (850). While in

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, he was arrested and charged with

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

possession of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

and

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. The cocaine charge was dropped, and Skiles pleaded guilty to the marijuana possession. He was arrested and charged with drunken driving a year later and served 15 days in jail. During his senior season, Skiles committed a parole violation on an earlier marijuana conviction, and served a brief jail sentence.

NBA career

The

made Skiles the 22nd selection of the 1986 NBA draft. In ten seasons, he played for the Bucks (1986–87),

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

(1987–89),

(1989–94),

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

(1994–95), and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

(1995–96).

Milwaukee Bucks

Skiles made his NBA debut with the Bucks on November 11, 1986, against the

, recording 2 rebounds and 5 assists in the 102–94 win. Skiles was seldom used his rookie season with the Bucks, averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 assists in just 13 games off the bench.

Indiana Pacers

On June 21, 1987, Skiles was traded by the Bucks to the

in exchange for a 1989 2nd round pick (which would later be used to select

Gary Leonard Gary Francis Leonard (born February 16, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. At 7'1" and 295 lbs, he played center (basketball), center. Leonard played college basketball for the Missouri Tigers men's basketball, Mis ...

). With the Pacers in 1987–88, Skiles averaged even fewer minutes but played in more games, increasing his scoring marginally to 4.4 points and posting the same 3.5 assists per game in 50 games, just two of them starts. He played in 80 games in 1988–89, starting just 13 and averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 assists in slightly under 20 minutes a game.

Orlando Magic

In 1989 Skiles was selected by the newly formed

in the NBA expansion draft. Mainly a backup point guard, he scored 7.7 points and posted 4.8 assists in 20.9 minutes per game in 70 games, 48 off the bench. In 1990–91 he transitioned to a starting role at the position, jumping to a career high 17.2 points and improved 8.4 assists in 34.4 minutes over 79 games and 66 starts. The season was highlighted on December 30, 1990, when Skiles racked up 30 assists in Orlando's 155–116 victory over the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

at Orlando Arena, breaking Kevin Porter's NBA single-game assists record (29). His well more than doubling scoring and nearly doubling his assists marks from the previous year earned him the

. The next year, 1991–92, was a bit of a reversal of form, his numbers dropping off just a bit to 14.1 points and 7.3 assists in 31.7 minutes in 75 games, with games started, field goals made, field goal percentage, 2-pointers made, 2-point percentage, 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage, free throws, free throw percentage, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, and steals all taking a hit. 1992–93 saw nearly all his numbers bounce back, with scoring up to 15.4 points, a career high in assists with 9.4 a game, and career highs in shooting percentage and 2-point shooting percentage in a career high 39.6 minutes in 78 games, all starts. Skiles played in all 82 games in 1993–94 but only started 46, with major drop-offs in minutes, field goals, field goal percentage, 2-pointers made, 2-point percentage, rebounds, assists, and scoring, points falling to 9.9 a game and assists to 6.1 per. Skiles began the year as a starter but in the second half of the season, Penny Hardaway became the starter, relegating Skiles to the bench. During the 1994 offseason, Skiles was traded to the

in the offseason to create salary cap space.

Washington Bullets

For the

in 1994–95, Skiles' minutes were back up to 33.5 per game in just 62 games, all starts, and both his scoring and assists also increased - to 13.0 and 7.3 respectively.

Philadelphia 76ers

Skiles spent only a single season in Washington, moving on to the

for his final NBA campaign in 1995–96. Appearing in only 10 games Skiles stats took a tumble, to 6.3 points and 3.8 assists in 23.6 minutes per game while starting 9 of the games.

Greek League

PAOK

Nursing a serious shoulder injury in 1996, Skiles left the U.S. for the Greek League, joining

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

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. Expectations were high for the new arrival from the NBA, but midway through the season injuries and contract problems with key players threatened the season for both PAOK and French coach Michel Gomez. Still struggling with injury himself, and increasingly at odds with Gomez, Skiles asked to be released from his contract. Instead, president Lakis Alexopoulos fired Gomez and offered Skiles the job. Despite lacking three of their top players due to injury, Skiles led PAOK to a winning record as coach in the remainder of the '96-'97 season, and an unexpected 3rd-place finish in the Greek League, thus assuring a qualification to the following year's

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

Coaching career

As an assistant

Skiles returned to the NBA for the 1997–98 season as an assistant coach with the

, being elevated to head coach in 1999.

Phoenix Suns

Under Skiles, Phoenix compiled a .595 win-loss record and made the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

in two of his three years as head coach, including a first-round win over the defending NBA champion

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in 2000.

Chicago Bulls

After a two-year absence from the game, Skiles came to the

as head coach in 2003. He immediately focused on improving the young Bulls' defense and developing greater consistency in a talented but underachieving team. In the first full year under his direction, Chicago limited its opposition to an NBA-best .422 field goal percentage and held their opponents to a franchise record and league high 26 straight games below 100 points. An NBA best 13–3 mark in January 2005 earned Skiles the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honor. The 2006 Bulls went 41–41, earning a 7th seed in the playoffs falling to 2nd seeded

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in six games. In 2007 the Bulls improved to a 49–33 and again faced the Heat in the first round of the post-season, this time sweeping them in four games. They lost the first three games of the second-round against the top-seeded

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, dropping the last at the United Center after holding a double-digit lead for much of the game. After a two-game rally they were eliminated in six. The Bulls had high expectations heading into the 2007–08 season. Mired in last place in the Central Division 25 games in, they were 9–16 when Skiles was fired by general manager John Paxson on December 24, 2007.

Milwaukee Bucks

On April 21, 2008, the

signed their former player Skiles as team's new head coach. He led the Bucks to a 34–48 record in the 2008–09 season. Injuries to key players Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut marred the season, but Skiles was given a show of support by general manager John Hammond. The next season Skiles had success with an improving, if still young, core led by Bogut at center and Brandon Jennings at point guard. A midseason trades for John Salmons and the pick-up of Jerry Stackhouse gave Skiles both a reliable shooter and a veteran presence on the Bucks' bench. Most NBA prognosticators picked the Bucks to finish last in the Eastern Conference, but the team's defense helped the Bucks beat several of the top teams in the NBA. After a gruesome injury to Bogut's right arm on April 3, 2010 Skiles coached his team to a decisive victory over the heavily favored Phoenix Suns. Three days later Skiles and the Bucks clinched a playoff berth by beating the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. They finished the regular season with a 46–36 mark, their first winning record in seven years. Skiles was frequently mentioned in

NBA Coach of the Year The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who l ...

talks, eventually finishing second to

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

head coach Scott Brooks. Skiles' five-year stint in Milwaukee ended on January 8, 2013, when he and the Bucks mutually agreed to part ways.

Orlando Magic

On May 29, 2015, former team point guard Skiles joined the

as the franchise's 12th head coach. On May 12, 2016, after head coaching the team for one season, Skiles stepped down as head coach of the Orlando Magic, claiming he was "not the right head coach" for the Magic.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

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Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 10 , , 9 , , 23.6 , , .351 , , .441 , , .800 , , 1.6 , , 3.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 6.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 600 , , 371 , , 28.0 , , .435 , , .379 , , .889 , , 2.5 , , 6.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 11.1

Playoffs

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1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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Head coaching record

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First round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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Quotes

* When asked by a reporter in 2003 to describe what Eddy Curry could do to improve his rebounding, Skiles responded: "Jump." * When questioned about an encounter between Charlie Villanueva and Anderson Varejão, Skiles responded: "I hope they'll launch an investigation to find the sniper who shot Varejao. I thought there was some acting involved."

Notes

External links

Career statistics
from basketball-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Skiles, Scott 1964 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Chicago Bulls head coaches Indiana Pacers players Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Milwaukee Bucks head coaches Milwaukee Bucks players Orlando Magic expansion draft picks Orlando Magic head coaches Orlando Magic players P.A.O.K. BC coaches P.A.O.K. BC players People from La Porte, Indiana Sportspeople from LaPorte County, Indiana People from Plymouth, Indiana Philadelphia 76ers players Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Phoenix Suns head coaches Point guards Washington Bullets players

High school and college

NBA career

Milwaukee Bucks

Indiana Pacers

Orlando Magic

Washington Bullets

Philadelphia 76ers

Greek League

PAOK

Coaching career

As an assistant

Phoenix Suns

Chicago Bulls

Milwaukee Bucks

Orlando Magic

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Head coaching record

Quotes

See also

Notes

External links