Chris Mullin

Early life and college career

He was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a young player in New York, Mullin studied the games of Knicks Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe but idolizedLarry Bird and wore #17 in honor of John Havlicek.^[1] As a youth, he regularly traveled to the Bronx and Harlem, predominately African American neighborhoods, to play against the best basketball players in New York City.^[1] Mullin began his high school career at Power Memorial Academy, where he was a teammate of Mario Elie, but he transferred as a junior, to the all boys Catholic Xaverian High School of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. 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 three 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 Yearand lead his team to the 1985 Final Four. Mullin finished his career as the Redmen's all-time leading scorer. He also holds the distinction of being one of only two players in history to win the Haggerty Award (given to the best college player in the New York City area) three times (1983–1985).

[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 championLos 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 theSacramento 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 2000 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. After that season, Mullin was waived by the Pacers . He then once again 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 innate ability to put their defender off guard.^[2] 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.

After spending two years as a special assistant with the Warriors, Mullin was named Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Warriors on April 22, 2004. On May 11, 2009, the team announced that Mullin's expiring contract would not be renewed.^[3] He was replaced by Larry Riley as the Warriors' General Manager.

He is currently an NBA analyst for ESPN.

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