Chris Mullin (basketball)

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Chris Mullin

Position	Small forward
Nickname	Mully
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Nationality	USA
Born	July 30, 1963 (1963-07-30) (age 44) Brooklyn, New York City
College	St. John's
Draft	7^th overall, 1985 Golden State Warriors
Pro career	1985–2001
Former teams	Golden State Warriors (1985–1997), (2000–2001) Indiana Pacers (1997–2000)
Awards	1985 USBWA College Player of the Year 5-Time NBA All-Star

Men's Basketball
Olympic medal record
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	United States
Gold	1992 Barcelona	United States

Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York) is the General Manager of the National Basketball Association's Golden State Warriors and a former American basketball player. Mullin played small forward in the NBA from 1985 to 2001. After playing at St. John's University, during which he won Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year three times and was a member of the 1984 amateur U.S. team, Mullin was chosen as the seventh pick by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1985 NBA Draft.

He played with the Warriors from the 1985-86 until the 1996-97 seasons. Thereafter, Mullin played with the Indiana Pacers from 1997 until the 1999-2000 season. He retired after the 2000-01 season, playing for his original team, the Warriors.

Mullin began his high school career at Power Memorial Academy, where he was a teammate of Mario Elie, but he transferred as a junior, first to Christ the King RHS, a sports power in the Middle Village section of Queens and later to the all-boys Catholic Xaverian High School of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

1 College career
2 NBA career
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] College career

Signing to play for St. John's University in nearby Queens, Mullin in his freshman year averaged 16.6 points per game (also setting the school freshman record for points scored). In his subsequent three years for the Redmen, he would be named Big East Player of the Year 3 times, named to the All-America team three times, play for the gold medal-winning 1984 Olympic team, receive the 1985 Wooden Award, USBWA College Player of the Year and lead his team to the 1985 Final Four. Mullin finished his career as the Redmen's all-time leading scorer and is currently second all time behind the late Malik Sealy.

[edit] NBA career

In Mullin's first three seasons with the Warriors, he was primarily a spot-up shooting guard playing in the backcourt alongside Eric "Sleepy" Floyd. In his second season, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals under George Karl, where they lost to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

However, Mullin was uncomfortable playing on the West Coast, having basically lived all his life in New York. A heavy drinker in college who never worked out much, other than playing basketball, Mullin sank further into alcoholism. In his third season with the Warriors, the team was beset with all types of turmoil, starting with the suspension of center Chris Washburn for drug abuse. The team would also trade malcontents with the Houston Rockets, sending Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll for Ralph Sampson and Steve Harris. Karl was fired after 64 games. Mullin missed 22 games himself with injuries but still managed to average 20.2 points per game.

1988 marked a new era for Mullin and the Warriors. Don Nelson was hired as head coach and vice president and immediately re-tooled the team. He drafted guard Mitch Richmond with the intent of moving Mullin to small forward. Nelson advised Mullin to get himself into alcohol rehabilitation and start getting himself in better shape. Mullin complied, and the player the Warriors thought they were getting in the 1985 draft finally showed up.

For five consecutive seasons, from 1988 until 1993, Mullin scored an average of 25 or more points and five rebounds. He became the only Warrior player besides Wilt Chamberlain ever to have five consecutive 25-ppg seasons. Additionally, the Warriors made five straight playoff appearances. Mullin, Richmond, and 1989 first-round draftee Tim Hardaway formed the trio "Run TMC" that were the focal stars of this playoff run. A five-time All-Star, Mullin also won Olympic gold twice—as a member of the 1984 amateur team, and for the 1992 Dream Team.

In 1993-94, Mullin's and the Warriors' fortunes began to change. Nelson traded for Chris Webber on NBA Draft Day and dealt Richmond to the Sacramento Kings for Billy Owens, hoping to make the Warriors stronger in the frontcourt. Mullin's body began breaking down, however, and he began to miss significant numbers of games. The Warriors had a successful first season with Webber, but he and Don Nelson began to bicker over his use as a player. This led Nelson to resign, and subsequent coaches saw Mullin as injury-prone and began to center the team around Latrell Sprewell. Mullin was traded after the 1996-97 season to the Indiana Pacers for second year center Erick Dampier and NBA journeyman Duane Ferrell.

Mullin had a successful first season with the Pacers, coached by Larry Bird. He started all 82 games, averaged 11.3 points per game, and helped the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in seven tough games. Bird, however, began to phase Mullin out and give more time to Jalen Rose at small forward. Mullin did, however, appear in three games of the 1999-00 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. After that season, Mullin was waived by the Pacers . He then signed with Warriors for the 2000-01 season, where he played before retiring.

Effort more than physicality marked Mullin's playing style. Somewhat lanky at 215 pounds and six-foot seven inches, Mullin managed to hold his own. He was a dead-eye outside shooter and could go to either his left or right and shoot with either hand, despite being naturally left-handed. This made him difficult for many NBA small forwards to guard. In fact, he was compared to NBA legend Larry Bird because both players lacked speed, had a great outside shot and had the inate ability to put their defender off guard.^[1] He was on the All-NBA second team (1989 and 1991), third team (1990), and first team (1992). In April 2004, Mullin was named executive vice president of basketball operations for the Warriors. Mullin also appeared in the 1995 Billy Crystal movie Forget Paris.

Mullin is married and has three sons and one daughter. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Warriors and resides in California.

[edit] See also

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

[edit] References

^ Chris Mullin: Grown Up, And an All-Star At Last - New York Times

[edit] External links

Career stats at NBA.com
2005-2006 REPORT CARD: Chris Mullin & Rod Higgins (Golden State of Mind)
Oscar Robertson Trophy

Preceded by Michael Jordan	John R. Wooden Award (men) 1985	Succeeded by Walter Berry

v • d • e 1984 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball team - United States
Steve Alford \| Patrick Ewing \| Vern Fleming \| Michael Jordan \| Joe Kleine \| Jon Koncak \| Chris Mullin \| Sam Perkins \| Alvin Robertson \| Wayman Tisdale \| Jeff Turner \| Leon Wood \| Coach: Bob Knight

v • d • e 1992 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball – "Dream Team"
Charles Barkley \| Larry Bird \| Clyde Drexler \| Patrick Ewing \| Magic Johnson \| Michael Jordan \| Christian Laettner \| Karl Malone \| Chris Mullin \| Scottie Pippen \| David Robinson \| John Stockton \| Coach: Chuck Daly