From Floor General to Sideline Teacher: The Coaching Journey of Terry Porter

Terry Porter was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played prep basketball, as a forward, at Milwaukee’s South Division High School. In his career, Porter was known for his defensive abilities and playmaking skills.

Playing Career

College

Porter attended and played for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, where he was invited to the 1984 Olympic trials, one out of 72 players the legendary Bob Knight had led. Notable players included Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Wayman Tisdale, Chris Mullin, and Steve Alford. Porter was later cut along with Charles Barkley and John Stockton.

College Accomplishments

• 2× First-team NAIA All-American (1984, 1985)
• 2× WSUC Player of the Year (1984, 1985)
• NAIA tournament MVP (1984)

“I wasn’t much good in high school, so the big schools didn’t come after me. But I guess I’ve improved a lot at Point” – Porter on playing the point guard position.

NBA

Porter was drafted in 1985 by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round with the 24th overall pick. The Milwaukee Bucks had the 22nd pick in the draft and selected Jerry Reynolds. Porter joked about the Bucks passing over him when he became the head coach of the team 18 years later.

He played 10 seasons with the Blazers, in that time he was a 2× NBA All‑Star in 1991 & 1993, reached the NBA finals twice in 1990 and 1992, and was the recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 1993. His #30 jersey was later retired in 2008 by the Trail Blazers.

As of 2026, Porter remains as the all‑time assists leader in Portland Trail Blazers history with a total of 5,319 and second most steals in franchise history with a total of 1,182.

After leaving the Blazers in 1995, Porter signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which had Bill Blair as the head coach until he was fired after a 6-14 start, replaced by Flip Saunders. Porter played there for 3 seasons where he contributed to the first ever playoff berth and their first winning season the following year.

He signed with the Miami Heat in January 1999 and later that year, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs, the last team he played for before retiring in 2002. Porter started in all 13 playoff games for the Spurs in 2001 while averaging 8.3 points and 3.4 assists per game.

When Porter retired, in his overall career he had:

• 15,586 career points, averaging 12.2 points per game
• 3,872 career rebounds, 3.0 rebounds per game
• 7,160 career assists, averaging 5.6 assists per game

Coaching Career

After playing 17 seasons in the NBA, Porter retired in 2002. Shortly after, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings by his former Trail Blazers head coach Rick Adelman. The team made it to the conference semi-finals losing in 7 games against the Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m glad they didn’t pass on me this time; ’85 was a tough
year for me,” Porter said at his introductory news
conference.

After one season as an assistant coach, the Wisconsin native was hired as the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, the eighth in franchise history and this was Porter’s first head coaching gig in his coaching career. Amongst his coaching staff was Mike Schuler, one of Porter’s former Trail Blazers head coaches.

In his first season as a head coach the Bucks finished with a record of 41–41, reaching the playoffs, but losing in 5 games against the Detroit Pistons, who would later go on to win the 2004 NBA Championship. The following season didn’t bring much success as the team finished with a 30–52 record, not making the playoffs. Porter was fired after 2 seasons as the head coach.

Porter would take a season off from any NBA opportunities to coach his son’s fifth-grade basketball team, which ended up having an undefeated season. He would return to the NBA in 2006 as an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons under Flip Saunders, who he played for in Minnesota. In 2 seasons with the team, the Pistons made 2 conference finals, losing against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics respectively.

“Terry knows how to deal with people as basketball players and as men,” Williams said. “He bonded with Clyde (Drexler) one way, and with me another and Jerome (Kersey) another. He communicates, teaches and directs without coming down on you” – Buck Williams on his former Trail Blazers teammate in 2003

In 2008, Porter landed his second NBA head coaching job with the Phoenix Suns succeeding Mike D’Antoni. He would coach notable players in Steve Nash, Amar’e Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, and Goran Dragić. During the season, Phoenix underwent personnel changes, resulting in acquiring Jason Richardson from the Golden State Warriors. The Suns needed an offensive change, which resulted in firing Terry Porter despite starting his first season with a 28–23 record, he was replaced with assistant coach Alvin Gentry, who had a more offensive focused philosophy.

After a 2-year hiatus from the NBA, Porter was hired as an assistant coach with the Timberwolves, reuniting him with both the Minnesota organization and Rick Adelman for a third time. In 3 seasons with the team, the Timberwolves increased their wins and improved their record each season under Adelman, but they had missed the playoffs in all 3 seasons.

• 26–40 (2011-2012)
• 31-51 (2012-2013)
• 40-42 (2013-2014)

Porter took another 2 years off before becoming the head coach of the Portland Pilots, the men’s basketball team of the University of Portland. Guard Alec Wintering was selected to the All-WCC First Team in 2016. In 2021, he was fired and replaced by Ben Johnson for the reminder of the season. Under Porter, the Pilots had an overall 43–103 record in nearly five seasons.

In September 2025, Porter was hired as a scout for the Portland Trail Blazers where he currently serves as of 2026.

Behind the Coaching has a coach profile for Terry Porter, where you can read more about his coaching career, who he coached, and the impact he made in each of his tenures.

Terry Porter Photo Credit: Chrishmt0423 (Wikimedia Commons) & Keith Allison (Flickr)