Nites

Full Name: Christopher Paul Mullin
Born: July 30, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York
High School: Power Memorial Academy (Brooklyn)
College: St. John's University (1983-1985)
Drafted By: Golden State Warriors, 7th Overall, 1985 NBA Draft
Height: 6-6 ; Weight: 210lbs
Nickname: Golden Boy, Mully
Position: SG/SF




Career Statistics - (1985-2001)

G - 986
FG% - .509
3PFG% - .384
FT% - .867
Points - 17,911
PPG - 18.2
Rebounds - 4,034
RPG - 4.1
Assists - 3,450
APG - 3.5
Blocks - 549
BPG - 0.6
Steals - 1,530
SPG - 1.6


Honors: 1 x All-NBA First Team, 2 x NBA Second Team, 1 x All-NBA Third Team, 5 x NBA All-Star, 2 x Olympic Gold Medalist, 3 x Big East Player of the Year, John Wooden Award Winner, USBWA College Player of the Year, Haggerty Award Winner, Elected into Naismith Hall of Fame 2011

High School and College

As a young player in Brooklyn, New York, Mullin studied the games of Knicks Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, idolized Larry Bird and wore #17 in honor of John Havlicek. As a youth, he regularly travelled to the Bronx and Harlem, predominately African American neighbourhoods, to play against the best basketball players in New York City. 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 Year and 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).



NBA career

In Mullin's first three seasons with the Warriors, he was primarily a spot-up shooting guard playing in the back-court 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 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, his last season as a player.

Effort more than physicality marked Mullin's playing style. 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. He was on the All-NBA second team (1989 and 1991), third team (1990), and first team (1992). Mullin also appeared in the 1995 Billy Crystal movie Forget Paris.

After his playing days were over, Mullin was hired as a special assistant by the Warriors, and was named Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the team on April 22, 2004. 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.

He is currently an NBA analyst for ESPN.

powerfulpanda

i've never watched him play because he was before my time. But after reading the article and looking at his career stats and resume, it doesn't seem very HOF worthy.

INSIDER

Mullin was awesome.
his hair cut alone makes him HOF worthy.

'trane

that's why you needed to see him play. run tmc baby.

powerfulpanda

you have to take an objective point of view tho. many people in this forum don't think that vince Carter is HOF worthy but then if Mullin can get in then Carter most definitely should. career stats, Carter is better. Carter also has more all star appearances, mullin has 1 more gold medal. both never won the championship. Carter got dunk comp, and rookie of the year.

i just don't think that someone who's got 5 all star games over a 16 year career is HOF worthy.
career average of 18.2 pts/4.1 asst/3.5 rebs is not impressive at all

you dno't get in based on your "play" alone. you need to impact the game and also show results.
i just think this kinda devaluates the Hall....
but if he is Hall worthy, then fine, but just be FAIR
cuz if he can get in then that SHOULD open the door for a lot more people.

powerfulpanda

rodman is definitely HOF worthy. even tho his stats are all defensive, they are impressive. he also won a lot of championships and made a HUGE impact on the game.
i don't know if the same can be said about mullin

'trane

hof isn't just based on stats.

powerfulpanda

= =
ok so i guess u just skimmed thru what i wrote....

that's why i included accomplishments into the conversation and impact to the game
like i said, his accomplishments AND stats weren't that impressive (at least not HOF impressive)
and i can't comment on his impact cuz he was before my time
but i'll say this....rodman was before my time too but no one can question his impact

Acie

Add the fact that he also was a McDonalds All American, won the John Wooden Award for best college basketball player in 84-85 and was a two time All-American at St. Johns. The hall of fame encompasses both pro and amateur ball. He was accomplished at every level, including international ball (won a gold both as an amateur and as an original Dream Teamer). He definitely deserves it.

'trane

ok, hof is based on more than stats and all-star appearances. as you yourself wrote, you need to make an impact on the game. Carter did not, except as a flash in the pan athlete and the leader of a garbage team, mullin most definitely did. and it won't show up in a stats and all-star based analysis. his team had 3 great players so stats were evened out between them and he had a huge amount of competition at his position so asg apearances were tougher to come by.

ask anyone who watched gstate in those days whether they think he belongs in the hall and every one of them would agree that he does.

i didn't skim through what you wrote, i ignored most of it because you never saw him play and are trying to judge his hof status by a few paragraphs on a message board.

powerfulpanda

i guess theres a reason why he got in on his last year of eligibility. but if thats the standard then fine. i just think this will open the doors up for some borderliners, that was my point

LX

I would suggest that he made it with his many accomplishments in college and two gold medals weighing heavily, as well as overachieving with his teams in the NBA. Vince has one gold medal, and one championship where he wasn't exactly the standout player, and a career of underachieving in the NBA.

powerfulpanda

but by including over/underachieving in your decision making it turns it into an individual standard instead of a general one. you can't just say because someone didn't play to his full potential then he's not HOF worthy. what if him underachieving still makes him a top tier player?
vince Carter was the 37th player to 20,000 points. thats at least gotta mean something right? be objective

LX

Look at the bulk of the other players that hit 20,000. It's embarrassing to even compare him to them. The HOF is very achievement oriented - that is the standard. Everyone in the HOF has championships or stands out in regard to consistently winning at a high rate while gaining AS selections, selections to all-nba teams, MVPs and other awards.

I mentioned overachieving with respect to the teams Mullins played for. I'm not saying for sure that meant anything to those that made this decision, but it means something to me. I think that he brought those teams farther than they would have otherwise gone, as good as they were. He was that kind of smart player that knew how to lead and make the timely play. Watching a guy like Mullins gave many people a sense of what the essence of the game, as a team sport, is all about.