A dream delayed: Bay Area’s Chance McMillian has Warriors career put on pause

VALLEJO Like an innumerable number of other Bay Area kids watching television on May -year-old Chance McMillian was awestruck when Warriors guard Baron Davis cocked back his right arm and threw down an iconic poster dunk through Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko After his beloved We Believe Warriors finished off the - supremacy to cut Utah s second-round series lead to - McMillian sprinted out of his family s home in east Vallejo and made a beeline to the basketball goal rooted in the driveway I was trying to act like I was dunking on someone like how he did in that match McMillian communicated the Bay Area News Group He did his best to mimic Davis fearless drives and tricky handles too doing what he thought was a perfect facsimile That streaky Davis-like jump shot though McMillian s mom remembered it needed certain work He knocked a couple of shingles off the roof Judy Bowers communicated the Bay Area News Group His long-range shooting has improved drastically in the years since that day rippling nets rather than damaging roofs and becoming the main weapon of a sharpshooter who led Texas Tech to the Elite Golden State Warriors Chance McMillian hangs out court side on a scooter before their encounter against the San Antonio Spurs during the California Classic Summer League match at Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday July Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group McMillian had to undergo surgery on a stress fracture in his left ankle a sparse weeks prior to the NBA Draft and recovery typically takes six to eight weeks Though confined to a boot and in need of a scooter to move around and unable to play in Summer League Golden State decided his smooth shot was intriguing enough to sign the East Bay native as an undrafted free agent I m a Golden State Warrior is what McMillian who was still recovering from surgery in Lubbock notified his mom over the phone They were slightly bummed out by the knowledge that he would not be able to wear the blue and gold during the summer exhibition games at Chase Center and later Las Vegas but McMillian has remained optimistic I just see this as a little roadblock not the end of the world McMillian commented After all this is not the first time McMillian has had to overcome less-than-ideal circumstances during his hoops journey His fascination with hoops began as a -year-old when his older siblings Joi and Justin would play in youth leagues guzzling down Gatorade during breaks McMillian began to demand Gatorade too with his mom eventually giving him a watered-down mixture and he began to associate the sport with the ubiquitous liquid He grew out of his obsession with the strength drink but McMillian s love of basketball and his height only grew Photo of Chance McMillian at a basketball camp Photo courtesy of Judy Bowers and Willie Eashman McMillian often attended basketball camps around the Bay Area including one put on by a baby-faced Warriors rookie named Steph Curry in and watched as countless Warriors games as he could on TV while also going to his fair share of games at Oracle Sprouting to -foot- as a teenager McMillian became a two-time Tri-County Athletic League MVP at St Patrick-St Vincent High School in Vallejo After transferring to the crosstown citizens school Bethel and enrolling in a class at Solano Region College for good measure McMillian was named TCAL MVP for the third time Chance is a hooper now stated Joey Fuca who also works with Miami Heat forward Keshad Johnson He knows basketball he s a junkie But even though the guard was also a standout on the AAU circuit playing for Fuca s LakeShow effort and later the famed Oakland Soldiers college interest was light It was not for lack of trying on the family s part Bowers had long filmed her son s games from the stands often as a way for other family members in far-flung places to watch his exploits McMillian became an avid video editor as a teenager cutting up his own highlights and posting them to social media as if he were a one-man BallIsLife operation No one else was recording me and making basketball highlight tapes so I made my own McMillian declared Photo of Chance McMillian middle with sister Joi left brother Justin right and mother Judy center Photo courtesy of Judy Bowers The highlights paid off and it has been a whirlwind ride ever since graduating from Bethel He spent a postgrad year at Golden State Prep then three seasons in Arizona at Grand Canyon University Ultimately McMillian craved to test himself against top competition and became the starting two-guard for a pair of seasons at Texas Tech His time in Lubbock even saw him play the last two games of his collegiate career at Chase Center beating Arkansas and losing to the Gators in the Warriors home arena McMillian established himself as one of the nation s top shooters while simultaneously fighting off accusations of being a Dub Nation bandwagoner Related Articles Warriors make official two trades to add rookies NBA Summer League takeaways Warriors rookie Will Richard makes debut vs Spurs Warriors involved in NBA s biggest bargain ever Keshad Johnson s Summer League slam brings back memories for San Leandro alum NBA Summer League Three takeaways from Warriors California Classic opener vs Lakers He had suffered through too various bricked Andris Biedri free throws and playoff-less seasons to be saddled with such a burden I for sure had a Baron Davis poster in my room and honestly I wore the No because of him when I was younger McMillian commented Anytime that anyone would talk bad about the Warriors I was right there to back the squad up Now wearing No a reference to him being the second son of his grandfather s fifth child he has a chance to make his mark with the gang eventually The Vallejo native hopes to be healthy for training camp and is itching to resume his basketball story in the place where it started I want to show kids in the Bay Area that if I can do it then you can do it too because anything is practicable McMillian stated Golden State Warriors Chance McMillian rolls past head coach Lainn Wilson before their challenge against the San Antonio Spurs during the California Classic Summer League event at Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Sunday July Jose Carlos Fajardo Bay Area News Group