Chris Mullin

Chris Mullin
Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team—"The Dream Team"—and in 2011 for his individual career).
Mullin played shooting guard and small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1985 to 2001. During his college basketball career for the St. John's Redmen, he was named Big East Player of the Year three times and was a member of the 1984 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball team, Mullin was chosen as the seventh pick by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft. He returned to the Olympics in 1992 as a member of the "Dream Team", which was the first American Olympic basketball team to include professional players.
He played with the Warriors from 1985 until 1997.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. He later served as special advisor for the Sacramento Kings and general manager of the Golden State Warriors.
Mullin served as the head coach of the Red Storm men's basketball team from 2015 to 2019.
Early life
Mullin was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a young player in New York, he studied the games of Knicks stars Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe while admiring Larry Bird and wearing #17 in honor of John Havlicek. As a youth, he regularly traveled to the Bronx and Harlem, in predominately black neighborhoods, to play against the best basketball players in New York City. His name began to spread while playing CYO basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on Flatlands Avenue. He was also a winner of the 1974 "Elks Hoops Shoot" which is a national free throw contest for youth.
Along with playing CYO basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Mullin attended Lou Carnesecca's basketball camp with future Xaverian teammates Roger McCready, Danny Treacy, Jimmy Howard, Gerard Shepard, Mike O'Reilly, Joe Cannizzo and Pete Cannizzo.
High school career
Mullin began his high school career at Power Memorial Academy, where he was a teammate of Mario Elie. He transferred as a junior to Xaverian High School and led them to a New York Class A state championship in 1981.
College career
Mullin was recruited by the Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca to play for St. John's University in nearby Queens. After signing, Mullin averaged 16.6 points per game in his freshman year (also setting the school freshman record for points scored). In his subsequent three years for the Redmen (now known as the Red Storm), he was named Big East Player of the Year three times, named to the All-America team three times, played for the gold medal-winning 1984 Olympic team, and received the 1985 Wooden Award and USBWA College Player of the Year.
As a senior who averaged 19.8 points per game, Mullin led St. John's to the 1985 Final Four and its first #1 ranking since 1951. Mullin, who averaged 19.5 points per game, finished his career as the Redmen's all-time leading scorer with 2,440 career points. He also holds the distinction of being one of only three players in history to win the Haggerty Award (given to the best college player in the New York City area) three times (1983–1985). From 1983 to 1985, Mullin was also named the Big East conference's player of the year, making him the only men's basketball player to receive this award three different seasons.
Professional career
Golden State Warriors (1985–1997)
In the 1985 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors selected Mullin in the first round with the seventh pick. 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, 1986–87, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals under George Karl, where they lost to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The next season, Don Nelson became the Warriors' coach and had plans to move Mullin to small forward. During his third season in the NBA, Mullin admitted to Nelson that he was an alcoholic. After missing several practices, Mullin was suspended, then entered an alcohol rehabilitation program.
For five consecutive seasons, from 1988 until 1993, Mullin scored an average of 25 or more points and five rebounds. Additionally, the Warriors made five straight playoff appearances. Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and 1989 first-round draftee Tim Hardaway formed the trio "Run TMC" (the initials of the players' first names and a play on the name of the popular rap group Run–D.M.C.) that were the focal stars of this playoff run. Mullin was a five-time All-Star during his time in Golden State and won his second Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a member of the Dream Team.
In 1993, Nelson traded for Chris Webber on NBA Draft day, hoping to make the Warriors stronger in the frontcourt. Mullin's body began breaking down, and he began to miss significant numbers of games. The Warriors had a successful first season with Webber, but he and 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.
Indiana Pacers (1997–2000)
Mullin was traded after the 1996–97 season to the Indiana Pacers for second-year center Erick Dampier and NBA journeyman Duane Ferrell.
In his first season with the Pacers, coached by Larry Bird, Mullin started all 82 games, averaged 11.3 points per game, and helped the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in seven games. He had a career high in 3-point shots made (107) and led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.939) that season as well. Bird began to phase Mullin out and give more time to Jalen Rose at small forward during his second season with the team. As a member of the Indiana Pacers, Mullin, who was primarily a bench player at this time, appeared in three games of the 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers and scored four points total. After that season, Mullin was waived by the Pacers.
Return to Golden State (2000–2001)
Mullin again signed with Warriors for the 2000–01 season, his last season as a player.
Legacy
According to Jim O'Brien, Mullin was similar to NBA legend Larry Bird because both players lacked speed, had a great outside shot and had the innate ability to put their defender off guard. He was on the All-NBA second team (1989 and 1991), third team (1990), and first team (1992).
National team career
During the 1992 Summer Olympics, Mullin, who started two games, averaged 12.9 points per game, shot 61.9% from the field and 53.8% from the three-point line. He was a member of the "Dream Team," which is widely regarded as one of the greatest sports teams ever.
Mullin also won gold medals in the 1992 Tournament of the Americas with the "Dream Team", the 1984 Summer Olympics, the 1983 Pan American Games, the 1982 Jones Cup, and the 1982 Seoul Invitational.
Coaching career
St. John's (2015–2019)
On March 30, 2015, Mullin accepted the vacant head coaching position at St. John's University.
In the 2018–19 season, his team reached the NCAA tournament as they went 21-13 and reached the First Four. The 21 wins matched their highest total since 1999–2000.
On April 9, 2019, Mullin resigned as head coach after compiling a 59–73 record in four seasons, including 20–52 in Big East play, citing a "personal loss" which was widely seen as the death of his brother.
Executive career
After his playing days were over, Mullin was hired by the Warriors as a special assistant, dealing with daily business operations. On April 22, 2004, he was named Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the team. On May 11, 2009, the team announced that Mullin's expiring contract would not be renewed. He was replaced by Larry Riley as the Warriors' General Manager.
Mullin began working with the Sacramento Kings in May 2013 when Vivek Ranadivé became owner. In September 2013, the Sacramento Kings hired him as an advisor. As an advisor, Mullin's duties were not only to provide advice to Ranadive and D'Alessandro on player transactions, but to also supervise the organization's college and overseas scouting program.
Broadcasting career
Mullin has worked as an NBA analyst for ESPN. On October 22, 2010, Mullin made his network debut as an ESPN studio analyst on Kia NBA Countdown.
In December 2011, Mullin worked with the ESPN broadcasting crew for Mark Jackson's coaching debut with the Golden State Warriors. Mullin joined his former television colleagues, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen to announce the game against the Los Angeles Clippers in the season opener and Christmas finale.
In September 2019, after leaving St. John's University, Mullin was announced as a pregame and postgame studio analyst for Warriors games on NBC Sports Bay Area. He also will contribute to Warriors coverage on radio affiliate KNBR.
Honors
In 2010, Mullin was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the "Dream Team".
On February 28, 2011, Mullin was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
On April 4, 2011, Mullin was inducted again to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, this time for his individual career.
On March 19, 2012, Mullin's number 17 was retired by the Golden State Warriors, making him the sixth player in team history to have his jersey retired.
Personal life
Mullin is a devout Roman Catholic, and has stated that he relies upon his faith daily. He and his wife, Elizabeth ("Liz"), live in Flower Hill, New York. They have four children. Mullin was very good friends with former teammate, Sudanese NBA player Manute Bol. After Bol was badly injured in a taxi cab incident in 2004, Mullin and the Warriors offered to raise money for Bol's medical bills by organizing a fantasy camp. On November 19, 2004, the Warriors, Mullin and his former teammates Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway participated in the fantasy camp named "Run With TMC".
In March 2012, PG&E joined the Golden State Warriors to restore a pair of basketball courts in Mullin's honor. Both courts were named the "Chris Mullin Basketball Courts at Arroyo Recreation Center Presented by PG&E".
In July 2014, Mullin was featured at a wheelchair basketball charity and opportunity event hosted in Puerto Rico by Max International. Before the event, he was presented a jersey from Federacion de Baloncesto en Silla de Ruedas de Puerto Rico (FEBASIRU), the local wheelchair basketball team. In this event, Mullin participated in a wheelchair basketball game for the very first time with Max International Associate Héctor Marcano Lopez and the local Puerto Rican wheelchair basketball team (FEBASIRU). He participated in "Max and Mullin Legends Classic Exhibition Game" with 20 local Puerto Rican basketball legends.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 55 || 30 || 25.3 || .463 || .185 || .896 || 2.1 || 1.9 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 14.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 82 || 82 || 29.0 || .514 || .302 || .825 || 2.2 || 3.2 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 15.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 60 || 55 || 33.9 || .508 || .351 || .885 || 3.4 || 4.8 || 1.9 || 0.5 || 20.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 82 || 82 || 33.7 || .509 || .230 || .892 || 5.9 || 5.1 || 2.1 || 0.5 || 26.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 78 || 78 || 36.3 || .536 || .372 || .889 || 5.9 || 4.1 || 1.6 || 0.6 || 25.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 82 || 82 ||style="background:#cfecec;"| 40.4* || .536 || .301 || .884 || 5.4 || 4.0 || 2.1 || 0.8 || 25.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 81 || 81 ||style="background:#cfecec;"| 41.3* || .524 || .366 || .833 || 5.6 || 3.5 || 2.1 || 0.8 || 25.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 46 || 46 || 41.3 || .510 || .451 || .810 || 5.0 || 3.6 || 1.5 || 0.9 || 25.9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 62 || 39 || 37.5 || .472 || .364 || .753 || 5.6 || 5.1 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 16.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 25 || 23 || 35.6 || .489 || .452 || .879 || 4.6 || 5.0 || 1.5 || 0.8 || 19.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 55 || 19 || 29.4 || .499 || .393 || .856 || 2.9 || 3.5 || 1.4 || 0.6 || 13.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 79 || 63 || 34.6 || .553 || .411 || .864 || 4.0 || 4.1 || 1.6 || 0.4 || 14.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 26.5 || .481 || .440 ||style="background:#cfecec;"| .939* || 3.0 || 2.3 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 11.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| style="background:#cfecec;"| 50* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 50* || 23.6 || .477 || .465 || .870 || 3.2 || 1.6 || 0.9 || 0.3 || 10.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| 47 || 2 || 12.4 || .428 || .409 || .902 || 1.6 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 0.2 || 5.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
| 20 || 8 || 18.7 || .340 || .365 || .857 || 2.1 || 1.0 || 0.8 || 0.5 || 5.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 986 || 822 || 32.6 || .509 || .384 || .865 || 4.1 || 3.5 || 1.6 || 0.6 || 18.2
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| All-Star
| 4 || 2 || 19.5 || .500 || 1.000 || .875 || 2.0 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 8.3
Playoffs
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1987
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
|10||10||26.2||.500||.750||.750||1.5||2.3||0.9||0.2||11.3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1989
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
|8||8||42.6||.540||.125||.866||5.9||4.5||1.8||1.4||29.4
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1991
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
|8||8||style="background:#cfecec;"|45.8*||.527||.692||.860||7.3||2.9||1.9||1.5||23.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1992
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
|4||4||42.0||.429||.333||.929||3.0||3.0||1.3||0.5||17.8
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1994
| style="text-align:left;"|Golden State
|3||3||45.0||.588||.500||.909||4.7||3.7||0.0||1.7||25.3
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1998
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
|16||16||25.8||.460||.385||.857||3.6||1.4||0.9||0.6||8.9
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|1999
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
|13||13||21.8||.410||.400||.870||1.5||1.2||0.8||0.2||9.5
|-
|style="text-align:left;"|2000
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
|9||1||10.0||.476||.250||.818||1.6||0.6||0.7||0.1||3.4
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 71 || 63 || 29.0 || .495 || .409 || .859 || 3.3 || 2.1 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 13.8
Head coaching record
See also
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
List of National Basketball Association annual minutes leaders
References
External links
St. John's University coaching bio
NBA bio of Mullin (from 2000)
1963 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
American people of Irish descent
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games
Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Catholics from New York (state)
Golden State Warriors draft picks
Golden State Warriors executives
Golden State Warriors players
Indiana Pacers players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
National Basketball Association All-Stars
National Basketball Association players with retired numbers
National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
Pan American Games medalists in basketball
Small forwards
Basketball players from Brooklyn
Flower Hill, New York people
St. John's Red Storm men's basketball coaches
St. John's Red Storm men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players
Xaverian High School alumni