Who says you can't go home?
Then again, when you are the son of a nomadic NBA lifer, "home" is a relative term. For Mike Dunleavy, Jr., home, at least for now, is (once again) here in Milwaukee.
"Once the lockout ended, I had 10 days there to feel out some offers and see what was going to happen," according to Dunleavy, 31. "This is the one that I was secretly pulling for all along. It worked out so I was thrilled."
Dunleavy, who signed a two-year, $7.5 million free agent contract with the Bucks earlier this month, of course is the son of former Bucks player, coach, and general manager Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
The elder Dunleavy was playing for the Houston Rockets in 1980 when his namesake was born on Sept. 15. From there, the Dunleavy family moved to San Antonio for the 1982-83 season before Milwaukee became home. Well, it became home for a little while, anyway.
After the 1984-85 season ended, so did Mike Dunleavy Sr.'s playing career. Having retired because of chronic back problems following an airplane accident that season, the Brooklyn native moved his family back to New York, where he began working at a Wall Street investment firm. That post-retirement script lasted two years, as the family found themselves back in Wisconsin when the elder Dunleavy became an assistant coach for the Bucks for the next three seasons.
In 1990, Sr. became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, so the family was off to California. Two years later, it was back to Milwaukee when he took over as Bucks as head coach and general manager. The elder Dunleavy would spend four years in that dual role before ceding his coaching duties to Chris Ford. One year later, he was off to Portland as the Trailblazers head coach for four years; then it was back to Los Angeles as Clippers head coach; a tenure that ended in early 2010.
During that nomadic time, Mike Dunleavy, Jr. was becoming a prodigy in his own right. By the time he reached high school it was becoming clear that he had a chance to be a better (and bigger) player than his father was. In fact, at 6-9, Jr. eventually towered over his old man by a full six inches.
The newest Buck spent his first prep year at University School of Milwaukee before moving on to Mequon Homestead for his sophomore campaign. If you follow the linear path, as his father moved to the Pacific Northwest, so did the family. In 1999 Dunleavy, Jr. graduated from Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Ore., before embarking on a successful college career at Duke.
While under the tutelage of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, Dunleavy flourished, helping the Blue Devils win the NCAA Tournament during his sophomore year. In 2002, Dunleavy was the third overall selection by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Draft.
"This is the fourth time for me coming back here," Dunleavy says today. "I mean, why not? I should've known it was going to happen."
The NBA being what it is certainly has intertwined familial bonds that can be traced back to the year of the younger Dunleavy's birth.
In 1980, Dunleavy Sr. played in Houston for head coach Del Harris. In 1983, Harris was hired by the Bucks to be a scout following his dismissal in Houston. Also coming to Milwaukee that same season was Harris' former player with the Rockets, Mike Dunleavy.
Harris in time became Don Nelson's top assistant. After Nelson's falling out with owner Herb Kohl, Harris became Milwaukee's head coach and general manager. Not coincidentally, that was when Harris hired Dunleavy Sr. to be one of his assistant coaches. Del Harris, of course, is the father of another former Bucks GM, Larry Harris.
Meanwhile, just as his father did in Milwaukee, Dunleavy Jr. played for Nelson at Golden State. Scott Skiles also played for Nelson during his final season with the Bucks as well. Now Dunleavy Jr. is playing for Skiles, here in Milwaukee.
I hope you got all of that, because there will be a quiz later.
As for where Mike Dunleavy, Jr. fits in with the Bucks, it seems only time will tell. One thing is clear, however, and that is he is a player that has been keeping Milwaukee on his radar screen for some time.
"I've really admired (the Bucks) from afar and I knew that if there was a situation in where I could come here and everything worked out, I'd be really excited about it," Dunleavy says. "It's a great style of play. I think I'll be able to help the team out, and it just seemed like a great fit."
For a team that ranked dead last in scoring among NBA teams in 2009-10, Dunleavy's biggest inherited attribute from his father, shooting, will be a welcome relief. Last season, Dunleavy shot 46.2 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from beyond the three-point line.
"He's going to be one of the best shooters, if not the best shooter, on our team," Skiles says. "And he can also make plays for other people. He's a good off the ball player, very good off the ball player with his cutting and spacing, and he's got a very high basketball IQ."
The Bucks found out the hard way last season that great defense won't win you many games if you cannot score. With not only Dunleavy, but also newcomers Beno Udrih, Shaun Livingston and Steven Jackson are all expected to help in that area.
"It seems like a good group of guys all across the board, but also this is a good passing team, from small to big," Dunleavy says. "The points the wings, the bigs can pass, so I think it will be a fun style of play. The ball will be moving, we'll be sharing, so hopefully we can play the same defense (as last year) but get better offensively and win some games."
Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.
Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.
Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.
Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.
