Paul Millsap
Paul Millsap | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 10, 1985 Louisiana, United States |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player (retired) |
| Years active | 2006–2022 |
| Known for | NBA power forward; four-time NBA All-Star |
Paul Millsap (born February 10, 1985) is a retired American professional basketball athlete who competed for 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward hailing from Louisiana Tech University, Millsap was the 47th overall pick in the second round of the 2006 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He remained with Utah until 2013 before moving to the Atlanta Hawks. Throughout his career, Millsap also played for the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers, achieving selection as an NBA All-Star on four occasions.
High school career
Millsap attended Grambling High School in Grambling, Louisiana, where he played for the Grambling Kittens basketball team. In 2003, he was honored as Louisiana's "Mr. Basketball," named a fourth-team Parade All-American, and ranked 58th nationally by ESPN.
College career
During his three seasons at Louisiana Tech, Millsap averaged 18.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game across 92 appearances. He made history as the first NCAA Division I athlete to lead in rebounding during both his freshman and sophomore years and remains unique in topping Division I rebounding charts for three consecutive seasons. Millsap received WAC Rookie of the Year and second-team honors as a freshman, followed by first-team All-WAC recognition in his sophomore and junior years. In the 2005–06 season, he also earned WAC All-Defensive accolades and was a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Award. On April 4, 2006, he declared for the NBA draft.
Utah Jazz (2006–2013)
Selected 47th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2006 NBA draft, Millsap signed his rookie contract on August 2, 2006. Although chosen late in the draft, he was viewed as a potential contender for the Rookie of the Year during his debut season. Leading all rookies with six double-doubles, he averaged approximately 7 points, 5 rebounds, close to one steal, and one block per game over all 82 games. Millsap played an important reserve role as Utah advanced to the Conference Finals.
In the early stages of the 2007–08 campaign, Millsap set a new personal scoring best of 28 points, which he later surpassed with a career-high 32 points in December 2008. Demonstrating resilience, he appeared in 194 straight games before missing one due to a knee injury that same month.
During the 2008–09 season, Millsap stepped up to replace injured All-Star Carlos Boozer, averaging 15.9 points and 10.3 rebounds across 38 starts. On June 25, 2009, Utah extended him a qualifying offer that rendered him a restricted free agent. After receiving a $32 million offer sheet from the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah matched it within seven days to retain him.
With Boozer's departure ahead of the 2010–11 season, Millsap became Utah's starting power forward alongside center Al Jefferson. On November 9, 2010, he posted a career-best performance with 46 points during an overtime victory against the Miami Heat, outscoring their newly assembled Big Three through a remarkable late-game run that included three three-pointers and a buzzer-beater forcing overtime.
Atlanta Hawks (2013–2017)
After spending seven seasons with the Jazz, Millsap inked a two-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks on July 10, 2013. He earned a spot as a reserve on the 2014 Eastern Conference All-Star team, selected by coaches on January 30, 2014. Millsap achieved his inaugural triple-double on March 18, 2014, posting 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists during an overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Millsap secured his second straight All-Star selection as an Eastern Conference reserve on January 29, 2015. That year, the Hawks featured four players in the All-Star game. He played a pivotal role in guiding Atlanta to a franchise-record 60–22 finish in the 2014–15 campaign, culminating in an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals where they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On July 9, 2015, Millsap agreed to a three-year contract worth $59 million to remain with the Hawks. He surpassed the 10,000 career points milestone on January 16, 2016. That season marked his third consecutive All-Star appearance. On April 9, 2016, Millsap delivered a season-best performance with 31 points and 16 rebounds in a triumph over the Boston Celtics. Atlanta concluded the regular season fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 48–34 record and advanced past Boston in six games during the first playoff round before being swept by Cleveland in the semifinals.
In the opening game of the Hawks' 2016–17 season on October 27, Millsap led all scorers with 28 points in a win against the Washington Wizards. He recorded a season-high of 30 points on December 19 to help defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder. On January 1, 2017, Millsap set a new personal season best with 32 points and added 13 rebounds during an overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs, ending an eleven-game losing streak versus them. He was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve for a fourth straight year on January 26. Shortly thereafter, on January 29, Millsap tallied a season-high 37 points along with 19 rebounds in a quadruple-overtime victory against the New York Knicks.
Denver Nuggets (2017–2021)
Millsap joined the Denver Nuggets by signing a three-year contract valued at $90 million on July 13, 2017. In his first game for Denver on October 18, he scored 19 points despite a loss to his former team, the Utah Jazz. A left wrist injury forced him out of action starting November 21; he underwent reconstructive surgery five days later and missed several months. Returning to play on February 27, 2018, Millsap posted a season-high of 36 points on March 30 during an overtime win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On December 3, 2018, Millsap was honored as Western Conference Player of the Week for the third time in his career. Four days after receiving this accolade, he sustained a broken right toe that sidelined him for eight games. He tied his season-high with 25 points on February 13, 2019, before surpassing it with a new season-best of 33 points on March 14. Throughout the following season (2019–20), Millsap remained an essential starter for Denver.
During the unique environment of the 2020 NBA Bubble, Millsap attracted viral attention by featuring "Vote" as his jersey statement—interpreted as "Vote 4 Millsap" due to his number. Although his playoff production dipped slightly, he contributed significantly to Denver's advance to the Conference Finals for the third time in his career; they ultimately fell to eventual champions Los Angeles Lakers.
Millsap re-upped with the Nuggets on December 3, 2020, agreeing to a reported one-year deal worth $10 million.
Brooklyn Nets (2021–2022)
Millsap joined the Brooklyn Nets by signing a contract on September 10, 2021.
Philadelphia 76ers (2022)
On February 10, 2022, Millsap was part of a trade package that sent him and James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers. In exchange, the Nets received Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, along with two first-round draft selections. Millsap participated in 9 out of the 76ers' last 28 regular-season games, posting averages of 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds over 11.8 minutes per contest.
His final NBA game occurred during Game 1 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 2, 2022. In that matchup against the Miami Heat, Millsap saw 5½ minutes of action, contributing one rebound and one assist as Philadelphia fell 106–92.
Retirement
Millsap did not compete in the 2022–23 or the 2023–24 campaigns and officially announced his retirement on December 3, 2024. He concluded his career ranked among a select group of just eight NBA players who have amassed at least 500 three-pointers, 1,000 blocks, and 1,000 steals.
Personal life
Elijah Millsap, Paul's brother, is also a professional basketball player who has played for the Utah Jazz. Their oldest sibling, John Millsap, played college basketball with the UTSA Roadrunners.
Awards and honors
- Louisiana Mr. Basketball: 2003
- NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 2007
- Inducted into the Louisiana Tech University Athletic Hall of Fame: 2011
- Selected as an NBA All-Star: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 1 || 18.0 || .525 || .333 || .673 || 5.2 || .8 || .8 || .9 || 6.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 2 || 20.8 || .504 || .000 || .677 || 5.6 || 1.0 || .9 || .9 || 8.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | 76 || 38 || 30.1 || .538 || .000 || .699 || 8.6 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 13.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 8 || 27.8 || .538 || .111 || .693 || 6.8 || 1.6 || .8 || 1.2 || 11.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | 76 || 76 || 34.3 || .531 || .391 || .757 || 7.6 || 2.5 || 1.4 || .9 || 17.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah | 64 || 62 || 32.8 || .495 || .226 || .792 || 8.8 || 2.3 || 1.8 || .8||16.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Utah |78||78||30.4||.490||.333||.742||7.1||2.6||1.3||1.0||14.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Atlanta |74||73||33.5|| .461|| .358|| .731||8.5||3.1||1.7||1.1||17.9 |-
|style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |73||73||32.7||.476||.356||.757||7.8||3.1|||1.8||0.9||16.7 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |81||81||32.7||0.470||0.319||0.757|||9.0|||3.3|||1.8|||1.7|||17.1 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Atlanta |69||67||34.0||0.442|||0.311|||0.768|||7.7|||3.7|||1.3|||0..9|||18..1 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Denver |38||37||30..1|||0..464|||0..345|||0..696|||6..4|||2..8|||1..0|||1..2|||14..6 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Denver |70||65||27..1|||0..484|||0..365|||0..727|||7..2|||2..0|||1..2|||0..8|||12..6 |- |style="text-align:left;" | |style="text-align:left;" |Denver |51||48||24..3||||482||||'.435''.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||.816'5,7||||11,6 |-
Playoffs
|- | style="text-align:left;"|2007 | style="text-align:left;"|Utah |17||0||15..5||0..525||0..000||0..667||4..4||0..5||0..6||0..5||5..9 |- |- class=sortbottom |- class=sortbottom