Chris Mullin

Did You Know?

• During the 1992 Summer Olympics, Mullin started two games and averaged 12.9 points per game, shooting 61.9% from the field and 53.8% from the three-point line.
• Mullin won gold medals in the 1992 Tournament of the Americas, the 1984 Summer Olympics, the 1983 Pan American Games, the 1982 Jones Cup, and the 1982 Seoul Invitational.
• 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.

Early life

Chris Mullin, a Brooklyn native, grew up studying the moves of Knicks legends Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, while also admiring Larry Bird and wearing number 17 as a tribute to John Havlicek. As a kid, he frequently journeyed to the Bronx and Harlem to compete against New York City’s top players in predominantly Black neighborhoods. His reputation grew through CYO basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on Flatlands Avenue, and in 1974 he won the national Elks Hoops Shoot free-throw contest. Mullin also attended Lou Carnesecca’s basketball camp alongside several future Xaverian teammates. He started high school at Power Memorial Academy, playing with Mario Elie, then transferred as a junior to Xaverian High School, where he led the team to a New York Class A state championship in 1981.

College career

Chris Mullin played for St. John's University after Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca recruited him. As a freshman, he averaged 16.6 points per game and set the school's freshman scoring record. Over the next three seasons, he won the Big East Player of the Year award three times, earned All-America honors three times, helped the 1984 U.S. Olympic team win a gold medal, and claimed the 1985 Wooden Award and USBWA College Player of the Year. In his senior year, averaging 19.8 points per game, he guided St. John's to the 1985 Final Four and the program's first number one ranking since 1951. Mullin finished his college career as the Redmen's all-time leading scorer with 2,440 points. He is one of only three players to win the Haggerty Award three times and remains the only men's basketball player to be named Big East Player of the Year in three separate seasons.

Professional career

The Golden State Warriors selected Mullin with the seventh pick in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft. In 1986–87, the Warriors advanced to the Western Conference semifinals under George Karl. The next season, Don Nelson became coach and planned to move Mullin to small forward. During his third season, Mullin admitted to Nelson that he was an alcoholic; after missing several practices, he was suspended and entered an alcohol rehabilitation program.

From 1988 until 1993, Mullin averaged 25 or more points and five rebounds for five consecutive seasons, and the Warriors made five straight playoff appearances. He, Mitch Richmond, and Tim Hardaway formed the trio Run TMC. Mullin was a five-time All-Star with Golden State and won his second Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a member of the Dream Team. He was traded after the 1996–97 season to the Indiana Pacers for Erick Dampier and 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. He led the NBA in free-throw percentage at .939 that season. Bird phased Mullin out during his second season. Mullin appeared in three games of the 2000 NBA Finals as a bench player, scoring four points total, and was waived afterward. He retired after the 2000–01 season, playing for his original team, the Warriors.

Personal life

Mullin is a devout Catholic and has stated that he relies upon his faith daily. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Flower Hill, New York, and have four children. He was very good friends with former teammate Manute Bol. After Bol was injured in a taxi cab incident in 2004, Mullin and the Warriors organized a fantasy camp to raise money for his medical bills. In March 2012, PG&E joined the Golden State Warriors to restore a pair of basketball courts in Mullin's honor, named the Chris Mullin Basketball Courts at Arroyo Recreation Center. In July 2014, Mullin participated in a wheelchair basketball charity event in Puerto Rico hosted by Max International, where he played wheelchair basketball for the first time with local players.