Aaron Nesmith-Khris Middleton matchup has their high school coach 'sweating bullets'

INDIANAPOLIS — John Pearson is simultaneously proud and torn, riveted and gutted. Every moment of joy he's had while watching the Pacers-Bucks NBA playoff series has been immediately muted by the realization one of his favorite pupils just suffered some form of gut-wrenching defeat.

"He sends me a text after every game," Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith said. "He's over there sweating bullets. He's losing his mind. He doesn't know who to cheer for."

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Pearson doesn't because he's watching two of the most accomplished players who have come through in his tenure as boys basketball coach at the Porter Gaud School in Charleston, S.C., and they're not just playing against each other, they're actually defending each other man-to-man. Nesmith has had the assignment of guarding Bucks three-time All-Star wing Khris Middleton, and Middleton has been flipping that around whenever they've been on the floor. That matchup has made a big impact on how the series has gone so far.

Middleton has had to carry the Bucks at times with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo having missed each of the first four games with a calf strain and seven-time All-NBA pick Damian Lillard having injured his knee and then his Achilles in Game 3, playing hobbled in that contest and sitting out Game 4. Middleton is averaging 26.3 points on 50.6% shooting, 8.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the first four games. Nesmith hasn't been as productive, averaging 11.0 points on 31.6% shooting with his outside shot frequently betraying him, but he's also averaging 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists and making life as hard on Middleton as he can. And that's been enough for the Pacers to take a 3-1 series lead.

Pearson has been watching all this from the edge of his seat at home, and he went to Fiserv Forum to watch Game 2 in-person. Pride is still his overarching feeling, but it still isn't easy to know when the series is over, one of the two players will see his season end.

"I think having known those two young men ever since they were in middle school all the way up through now, I’m just awfully proud," Pearson said. "I can’t believe I’m sitting in an NBA arena watching two guys that I saw grow up on the floor competing at the highest level. It’s an amazing feeling, but it’s also kind of crummy because one of them gets to win and the other one doesn’t."

It was particular gut-wrenching Game 3. Middleton went on a scoring bender with 42 points, hitting a twisting pull-up 3-pointer from 30 feet with 1.4 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Nesmith struggled to shoot the ball all night, but he knocked down his seventh 3-point attempt after missing his first six with 14.4 seconds left to put the Pacers up three. However Middleton banked in a 3 with 6.7 seconds left to tie it. A floater that turned into a three-point play by Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton put the Pacers back up three, but Middleton had a shot to tie and just missed with Nesmith guarding him.

The players themselves find it a little less emotionally wrenching, and they've enjoyed going at each other in the NBA playoffs after spending so much time doing so in open gyms and pick-up games in Charleston.

"It's pretty cool to be able to compete against him at the highest level, somebody I've known for such a long time," Nesmith said. "But you gotta compete. That's what we're here to do."

Nesmith has never backed down from Middleton, which is a big reason why they have the relationship they do and why Nesmith became the player he is.

Middleton is eight years Nesmith's senior, so Middleton was starring at Porter Gaud when Nesmith was in early elementary school and his rookie year with the Pistons came when Nesmith hit seventh grade. By the time Nesmith was in high school, Middleton had established himself as a starter and double-figure scorer with the Bucks.

But Middleton made a point of always coming back to Charleston in the summers to work out with former teammates and make sure he was giving back to his high school program. One of his high school teammates Travis Smith played overseas and came back to join Porter Gaud as an assistant coach, and sometimes those two would work out with Porter Gaud players to give them a sense of what the next levels were like. Smith credited Pearson for creating an environment where former players wanted to come back.

"He did a really good job of program-wise of making it a family and a brotherhood," Smith said. "The fact that me and Khris and other guys were able to show it to dudes like Aaron and some other guys who were able to go to college, that was a testament to his program."

Pearson and his assistants started to get a sense Nesmith could be special when he was in eighth grade, moved up to varsity for the playoffs after the JV season was over and caused a problem for them in scrimmages. In the summers when he was an underclassman, Nesmith spent more time around Middleton. Middleton doesn't remember if it was before his freshman or sophomore year that Nesmith went up against him one-on-one, but he remembered the spirit Nesmith brought to the battle.

"He was competitive, angry, he had this notch that he could always go up when he was motivated," Middleton said earlier this season when the Pacers and Bucks played in January. "That's the first thing that was told to me. I didn't see it at first, but when I started working out and playing with him one-on-one, you could see that intensity, that rage. He loved the challenge. He loved the fight, and he was a hell of a shooter even back then. I talked a lot of mess in workouts one-on-one. I was talking to him and he just came down and lowered his shoulder into me one time, put me about 5 feet back and dunked it in, gave out a scream and I loved it. I loved it because that's what I like to see. I like to see guys fight back. He was a lot younger than me at the time, but he had a lot of fight in him. He wanted to prove that he belonged at my level."

Spending time around Middleton helped him make a leap. Growing up and in his first few years of high school, he didn't always look for his own shot, in part because Porter Gaud had other top recruits, including Josiah Jordan-James, who's now at Tennessee. But the more he worked on his skills with Middleton, especially shooting and ball-handling, the more he started to see himself as a scorer. He finished his high school career with more than 2,000 points, averaged 21 per game as a senior, was named South Carolina Independent School Association 3A Player of the Year and led Porter Gaud to three straight state titles.

"(Aaron) was able to see his dream in real life and I think he would have worked hard either way, but seeing Khris work out on a regular basis and being able to see that and touch that and see that was inspiration to let him know that it’s possible," Smith said.

Middleton and Nesmith were both slowly noticed by college coaches and didn't get their wave of big school offers until the July evaluation period prior to their senior years, so that helped Nesmith along while he was waiting for Power 5 coaches to call. Middleton eventually picked Texas A&M and Nesmith went to Vanderbilt.

Nesmith also leaned on Middleton's advice once he got to the NBA and didn't find a clear path to playing time. Middleton was a second-round pick of the Pistons in 2012 and he played in just 27 games as a rookie, averaging 6.1 points in 17.6 minutes per game. He even spent time in the G League that year. However, he was traded to Milwaukee in July of 2013 in a deal that sent Brandon Jennings to Detroit. He won a starting job that year appearing in all 82 games and starting 64 and averaging 12.1 points per game.

That trade sent Middleton on the path to being a three-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist and a key piece of the Bucks 2020-21 NBA championship team. So he had advice to give Nesmith when he was taken as a lottery pick by the Celtics in 2020 but stuck behind All-NBA wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown among others.

"Khris was really strong with Aaron during Aaron's Boston years," Pearson said. "You gotta know the ropes and know what works and know what doesn't, and Khris was able to help him jump over a couple of hurdles so he could be a better professional. You've got to be patient but you've got to stay hungry. Aaron was in a situation where there were some superstars ahead of him and there was a certain way that the Celtics did things.

"Khris was really instrumental on all that kind of stuff and helping him through that because Khris went through all that stuff when he was in Detroit. That was the biggest thing that helped Aaron get over those hurdles."

Nesmith was traded to the Pacers in the summer of 2022 as part of the deal that sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics and like Middleton did in Milwaukee, he jumped at the opportunity. He hasn't yet become the scorer Middleton is, his 12.2 points per game this season were a career high — but he proved himself willing to do the dirty work and to take on tough defensive assignments. He and Andrew Nembhard always guard the Pacers' opponent's top two perimeter players, and in this playoff series, that has meant guarding Middleton.

Statistically, Middleton has gotten the best of Nesmith, but Nesmith has had important stops when they were needed. Middleton can tell just how well Nesmith has studied his game over the years, because he's had to go to second and third moves to get his shots.

"It's fun," Middleton said. "We've had a lot of battles during the summer just trying to make each other better. He's worked his way to this opportunity. He's a smart player. He's a great, physical defender. Quick, strong. Everybody knows about his shooting and what not ... It's just a cat and mouse game. He's trying to force me to do different things. Sometimes I'm trying to get to certain spots, he knows what I'm going to do. For me to be a good player, I have to have counters or find ways to get guys open."

Pearson can see that cat-and-mouse game, and that part he can really enjoy without thinking about the results and knowing that one of his two players are going to end up disappointed when the series is over.

"I think I miss 90% of the game because I'm watching those two guys," Pearson said. "I can't believe they walked these hallways just like all these other high school kids and now they're playing at a level where everybody watches. It's fun."

Except when it's excruciating. But even then he's still proud of what they've accomplished.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Aaron Nesmith-Khris Middleton matchup brings pride to Charleston school