Nick Van Exel

Nick Van Exel

Nick Van Exel in 2005 with the San Antonio Spurs
Texas Legends
Position Head coach
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1971-11-27) November 27, 1971
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school St. Joseph (Kenosha, Wisconsin)
College Cincinnati (1992–1993)
NBA draft 1993 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career 1993–2006
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
Number 9, 31, 37, 19
Coaching career 2009–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1998 Los Angeles Lakers
1998–2002 Denver Nuggets
2002–2003 Dallas Mavericks
2003–2004 Golden State Warriors
2004–2005 Portland Trail Blazers
2005–2006 San Antonio Spurs
As coach:
2009–2010 Texas Southern (assistant)
2010–2012 Atlanta Hawks (player development)
2013–2014 Milwaukee Bucks (assistant)
2014–2015 Texas Legends (D-League) (assistant)
2015–present Texas Legends
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 12,658 (14.4 ppg)
Rebounds 2,545 (2.9 rpg)
Assists 5,777 (6.6 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Nickey Maxwell "Nick" Van Exel (born November 27, 1971) is a former American professional basketball player who is currently the head coach for the Texas Legends in the NBA Development League. Van Exel played for six teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 through 2006, and is a former NBA All-Star.

Early life

Van Exel was raised primarily by his mother, Joyce. He attended St. Joseph High School, a private high school in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He played from 1987 to 1989 and scored 1,282 points, including 772 as a senior. He led the WISAA (private schools) state tournament in scoring as a junior and senior when his team lost in the finals both years. He was named to the Associated Press all-state team as a senior.

College career

Van Exel wanted to play college basketball, but his grades weren't high enough to qualify for a top-flight program, so he went to junior college at Trinity Valley Community College[1] for two years. He applied himself to his studies and qualified to enroll at the University of Cincinnati and play for coach Bob Huggins.[2]

Prior to Van Exel's arrival, the Bearcats had gone 18-12. In 1991-92, with Van Exel as starting point guard averaging 12.3 points and 2.9 assists per game, the Bearcats went 29-5, won their league tournament, and won four NCAA tournament games to advance to the NCAA Final Four, where they were defeated by Michigan and their "Fab Five."[3]

In his senior year, Van Exel led the University of Cincinnati Bearcats with 18.3 points and 4.5 assists per game as the team went 27-5, again won their league tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before falling in overtime to North Carolina. Van Exel earned Third-team All-America honors (AP, Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly) and was a finalist for the Wooden Award for player of the year.[3] In only two seasons, he became Cincinnati's all-time leader in three-point field goals made (147), attempted (411), and percentage (.358). These records have since been surpassed.

Professional career

In a 13-year NBA career, Van Exel played for the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Van Exel's career began when he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round as the 37th overall pick of the 1993 NBA draft. Van Exel and Eddie Jones were the centerpiece of the Lakers' rebuilding plan after the end of their successful Showtime era in the early '90s. Led by Van Exel's flashy play, the two guards helped the team to the playoffs in 1995 after the Lakers had missed the postseason for the first time in years in 1994. Van Exel was known for his shooting streaks, buzzer-beating shots, and speed, earning him the nickname "Nick the Quick".

During his career with the Lakers, Van Exel averaged 14.9 points per game as well as 7.3 assists per game, finishing in the top 10 in the NBA in that category twice. In 1996, during a game against the Denver Nuggets, he pushed a referee, resulting in an ejection, seven-game suspension, and $187,000 fine.[4]

On June 24, 1998, after five seasons as the starting point guard, Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Tony Battie and the draft rights to Tyronn Lue.

Playing on a Nuggets team which was one of the worst in the league, Van Exel achieved several career highs. Over four seasons he put up averages of 17.7 ppg and 8.4 apg, averaging 21.4 ppg through 45 games of the 2001–02 season.

On February 21, 2002, he was traded by the Nuggets along with Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad to the Dallas Mavericks for Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway, and a 2002 first-round pick.

In Dallas, Van Exel played a smaller role, but contributed effectively by creating scoring opportunities and scoring key three pointers. He averaged 12.5 ppg during the 2002–03 season, and nearly 20 ppg in the 2003 playoffs, carrying the offensive load for the Mavericks in a tight series against the Sacramento Kings, scoring 36 and 40 points in back-to-back wins in games 2 and 3.

Van Exel was traded on August 18, 2003 to the Golden State Warriors along with Evan Eschmeyer, Avery Johnson, Popeye Jones, and Antoine Rigaudeau in exchange for Antawn Jamison, Chris Mills, Danny Fortson, and Jiri Welsch. During the 2003–04 season he played in a career low 39 games, averaging 12.6 ppg and 5.3 apg.

On July 20, 2004, he was traded by Golden State to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Dale Davis and Dan Dickau.[5] With the Blazers he played in only 53 games, averaging 11 ppg.

Van Exel was waived by Portland on August 3, 2005, and he signed with the San Antonio Spurs on August 29. After signing, Van Exel stated that it would be his last season in an NBA uniform. Due to knee and elbow injuries,[2] he only played in 65 games during the 2005–06 season. He averaged career lows in almost every statistical category, including points (5.5 ppg) and minutes (15 mpg). In the playoffs, San Antonio was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in a series that lasted seven games. Two days later, on May 24, 2006, ESPN's Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon reported on their show Pardon the Interruption that Van Exel would soon announce his retirement.

Coaching career

He served as an assistant coach in 2014–15 to Eduardo Nájera on the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League, before replacing Najera as head coach prior to the following season.[6]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1993–94 L.A. Lakers 81 80 33.3 .394 .338 .781 2.9 5.8 1.0 .1 13.6
1994–95 L.A. Lakers 80 80 36.8 .420 .358 .783 2.8 8.3 1.2 .1 16.9
1995–96 L.A. Lakers 74 74 34.0 .417 .357 .799 2.4 6.9 .9 .1 14.9
1996–97 L.A. Lakers 79 79 37.2 .402 .378 .825 2.9 8.5 .9 .1 15.3
1997–98 L.A. Lakers 64 46 32.1 .419 .389 .791 3.0 6.9 1.0 .1 13.8
1998–99 Denver 50 50 36.0 .398 .308 .811 2.3 7.4 .8 .1 16.5
1999–00 Denver 79 79 37.3 .390 .332 .817 3.9 9.0 .9 .1 16.1
2000–01 Denver 71 70 28.7 .414 .377 .819 3.4 8.5 .9 .3 17.7
2001–02 Denver 45 44 38.6 .408 .337 .782 3.8 8.1 .7 .2 21.4
2001–02 Dallas 27 2 28.0 .411 .347 .844 3.1 4.2 .5 .1 13.2
2002–03 Dallas 73 1 27.8 .412 .378 .764 2.8 4.3 .6 .1 12.5
2003–04 Golden State 39 29 32.2 .390 .307 .707 2.7 5.3 .5 .1 12.6
2004–05 Portland 53 34 30.5 .381 .389 .784 3.0 4.3 .8 .0 11.1
2005–06 San Antonio 65 2 15.2 .397 .357 .683 1.4 1.9 .2 .0 5.5
Career 880 670 32.9 .405 .357 .794 2.9 6.6 .8 .1 14.4
All-Star 1 0 20.0 .357 .167 1.000 3.0 2.0 .0 .0 13.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995 L.A. Lakers 10 10 46.4 .414 .318 .763 3.8 7.3 2.1 .3 20.0
1996 L.A. Lakers 4 4 34.3 .296 .313 .769 4.0 6.8 .5 .0 11.8
1997 L.A. Lakers 9 9 39.2 .378 .273 .824 3.4 6.4 1.1 .0 14.4
1998 L.A. Lakers 13 0 28.2 .331 .314 .725 2.5 4.2 .6 .1 11.6
2002 Dallas 8 1 33.0 .366 .206 .667 3.0 3.9 1.0 .0 11.1
2003 Dallas 20 3 33.6 .460 .393 .703 3.4 4.1 .6 .0 19.5
2006 San Antonio 12 0 11.1 .219 .300 1.000 1.0 1.4 .3 .2 2.2
Career 76 27 31.4 .394 .324 .753 2.9 4.5 .8 .1 13.6

Coaching career

Texas Southern University hired Van Exel as an assistant coach to the Tigers men's basketball team on October 15, 2009.[7]

On September 8, 2010, the Atlanta Hawks hired Van Exel as a player development instructor.[8] Van Exel remained in that position for the 2010-11, 2011–12, and 2012–13 seasons.[2] In 2013-14, he served as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks.[9]

On July 8, 2015, Van Exel was named head coach of the Texas Legends in the NBA D-League replacing Eduardo Najera[10]

Player highlights

Other

Personal

Van Exel once appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs.[16]

On January 31, 2013, Van Exel's 22-year-old son, Nickey Van Exel, was convicted of murdering his friend and sentenced to 60 years in prison.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cardinals in the Pros
  2. 1 2 3 "Bio". Nick Van Exel Website. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/cinn/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/1011UCMBKMEDIASUP.pdf
  4. ↑ Associated Press. "Hitting Referee Costs Van Exel $187,000". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 02/01/2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. ↑ "USATODAY.com - Golden State swaps Van Exel for Davis, Dickau". Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Grant, Ethan; O'Dell, Chris (July 9, 2015). "Change at the top: Legends name ex-Mavericks guard Van Exel head coach". Frisco Enterprise. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ Associated Press (October 15, 2009). "TSU hiring Van Exel as assistant". USA Today. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Hawks Name Nick Van Exel to Position of Player Development Instructor". Atlanta Hawks. September 8, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Bucks Name Bender and Van Exel Assistant Coaches". THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Judkins, Kyle. "Legends Name Nick Van Exel Head Coach". Texas Legends. NBA Media Ventures/Turner Sports. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "NBA.com: 1995 Playoff Heroics". Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Tommy Craggs. "The Confessions Of An NBA Scorekeeper". Deadspin. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Nick Van Exel 1999-00 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Nick Van Exel 2001-02 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  15. ↑ The Nick Van Exel Free Throw. 21 April 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2016 – via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "MTV Original TV Shows, Reality TV Shows - MTV". MTV. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Goldstein, Scott. "Update: Former Dallas Maverick Nick Van Exel breaks down as he testifies in son’s murder trial". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 02/01/2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

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