Happy 62nd Birthday to Chris Mullin
- Jake C
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
An NBA legend celebrates a birthday on July 30 as Hall of Fame forward Chris Mullin turns 62.
Mullin, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., started playing the game with his three brothers in their backyard. His basketball role models included Walt Frazier and John Havlicek. Mullin’s No. 17 was the same number worn by the Celtics’ legend.
As he honed his skills shooting around at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Mullin and future NBA forward Mario Elie traveled via subway to different boroughs to play pick-up games.
Mullin split his high school years between Power Memorial Academy (where Elie attended and where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar starred decades earlier) and Brooklyn’s Xaverian High School. In 1981, Mullin led the Clippers to the state championship. For his efforts, he was named New York’s Mr. Basketball.
For college, Mullin stayed close to home and attended St. John’s University where he played for the legendary Lou Carnesseca. Mullin battled against Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas and Pearl Washington and the Syracuse Orangemen. The Big East was the conference in NCAA basketball at the time.
In four years at St. John’s, Mullin averaged 19.5 points in 125 games (37.3 minutes) on 55.0% shooting. He led the nation in minutes as a junior and senior at 39.6 and 37.9 per game, and in his junior season of 1983-84 averaged 22.9 points (57.1%) and was a 2nd team All-American. As a senior, he averaged 19.8 points on 52.1% shooting and was a 1st team All-American. The ‘84-‘85 Red Storm finished 31-4 overall and 15-1 in the Big East. The roster that was loaded with future NBA talent in Mullin, Walter Berry, Mark Jackson, and Bill Wennington lost to Ewing and the Hoyas in the Final Four. Mullin made All-Big East all four seasons in college, was 3-time Big East Player of the Year (1983-1985), was Big East All-Freshman and Tournament MVP (1983), and was the Wooden Award winner in his senior season. Berry, a junior on the ‘84-‘85 squad, won the award the following year as a senior.
In the 1985 NBA Draft, Mullin was drafted seventh overall by the Golden State Warriors in a draft where the New York Knicks drafted Ewing No. 1 overall.
At age 22, Mullin joined a Warrior team that went 22-60 in ‘84-‘85 under Johnny Bach. As a rookie, Mullin averaged 14.0 points on 46.3% shooting (11.3 attempts) in 25.3 minutes per game. He started 30 of 55 games played. Pervis Short led the 32-win Warriors in scoring with 25.5 points per game.
Mullin started all 82 games in his second season, averaging the same amount of shot attempts in now 29.0 minutes per game. He averaged 15.1 points per game. The ‘86-‘87 Warriors under George Karl won 42 games and made the playoffs where they defeated the Utah Jazz 3-2 in the first round and lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Semifinals. In Game 4 against the Jazz, Mullin made 8-of-13 shots for 18 points, and scored 20 points in Game 3 against the Lakers on 8-of-17 shooting.
The Warriors won just 20 games in 1987-88, as Karl was gone after a 16-48 start. Ed Gregory replaced him and went 4-14. Mullin started 55 of 60 games (33.9 minutes) and shot 50.8% on 15.4 attempts. His 20.2 points per game were second on the team, behind Sleepy Floyd’s 21.2. Mullin also averaged 4.8 assists.
From 1988-89 through to 1992-93, Mullin made five consecutive All-Star appearances. Don Nelson took over the coaching reins in ‘88-‘89 and implemented a fast style, with Mullin, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch Richmond forming the exciting “Run TMC” trio from 1989-1990 to 1990-91. The Warriors in 1990-91 won 48 games and made the playoffs, where they defeated the San Antonio Spurs 3-1 in the first round and lost to the Lakers in five games in the Conference Semifinals. In November 1991, Richmond was dealt to Sacramento. Hardaway remained, and Šarūnas Marčiulionis, a 6th round pick in 1987 and master of the Eurostep, averaged 18.9 points in 1991-92 and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting. The team won 55 games and lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. From 1988-89 to 1992-93, Nelson led the team to three playoff appearances. The ‘92-‘93 squad had rookie Latrell Sprewell average 15.4 points per game, while Hardaway averaged 21.5.
Chris Mullin’s Five All-Star Seasons
1988-89: 26.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.1 steals, 50.9% FG (19.9 FGA), 89.2% FT, 37.7 minutes, 82 games, All-NBA 2nd team. On April 13, 1989, he scored a career-high 47 points (7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) on 16-of-25 shooting in 44 minutes in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
1989-90: 25.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 53.6% FG (16.3 FGA), 37.2% 3PT, 88.9% FT, 36.3 minutes, 78 games, All-NBA 3rd team
1990-91: 25.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.1 steals, 53.6% FG (17.7 FGA), 88.4% FT, 40.4 minutes (1st), 82 games, All-NBA 2nd team. In Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Mullin scored 41 points (5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) on 16-of-21 shooting (4-of-4 from 3-point range) in 47 minutes. The Warriors won the game 125-124.
1991-92: 25.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals, 52.4% FG (19.6 FGA), 36.6% 3PT, 83.3% FT, 41.3 minutes (1st), 81 games, All-NBA 1st team, 6th in MVP voting
1992-93: 25.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 51.0% FG (20.2 FGA), 45.1% 3PT, 81.0% FT, 41.3 minutes, 46 games
The 1993-94 Warriors no longer had Hardaway, but had a rookie Chris Webber who averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds. While Sprewell’s 21.0 per game led the team in scoring, Mullin averaged 16.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 37.5 minutes per game (47.2% shooting on 14 attempts) for the 50-win club. The 30-year-old started 39 of 62 games. Nelson led the group to yet another playoff appearance, where they lost 3-0 to the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Mullin averaged 25.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 58.8% shooting in the series in 45.0 minutes per game.
In his final three seasons with the Warriors before heading to Indiana, Mullin averaged 19.0, 13.3, and 14.5 points per game on 48.9%, 49.9%, and 55.3% shooting. He started 23 of 25 games played in ‘94-‘95, 19 of 55 played in ‘95-‘96, and 63 of 79 in ‘96-‘97.
Prior to the 1997-98 season, Mullin was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Duane Ferrell and Erick Dampier. With the deal, he was going from a team that had won 26, 36, and 30 games in the prior three seasons to a Pacer team that had made the playoffs every year from 1989-1996.
The Pacers won 58 games in 1997-98 and took the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals in Larry Bird’s first season as Pacer coach. That season, just as he would in the ensuing lockout-shortened season, Mullin played in every game. He averaged 11.3 points and 10.1 points in each season on 48.1% and 47.7% shooting in 26.5 and 23.6 minutes per game.
In 1999-00, Mullin played in 47 games, started two, and averaged 12.4 minutes per game. He played his final season back with the Warriors, at age 37 in 2000-01. He played in 20 games in his final season (eight starts) and averaged 18.7 minutes per game.
For his 16-year career, Mullin averaged 18.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 50.9% from the field (13.4 attempts), 38.4% from 3-point range, and 86.5% from the free-throw line. He played in 986 career games and started 822 in 32.6 minutes per game. In 1997-98, he led the NBA in free-throw percentage at 93.9%, and in 1996-97 led the league in effective field-goal percentage at 60.5%. In his Warriors’ career, he averaged 20.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 51.3% from the field (14.9 attempts), 36.6% from 3-point range, and 86.2% from the free-throw line in 807 games (688 starts) in 35.0 minutes per game.
From 2004-2009, Mullin served as the Warriors’ Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. On February 24, 2005, Mullin traded Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis to the New Orleans Hornets for Baron Davis. He brought Nelson back as head coach in 2006-07, a season in which the 8th-seeded Warriors (42 wins) defeated the Dallas Mavericks (67 wins) in six games in the first round, marking the first time in league history that a No. 8 seed defeated a No. 1 in a best-of-seven series. Davis was the team’s star at the time.
Mullin’s 12.9 points per game were the fourth highest on the 1992 US Olympic team, behind Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, and Karl Malone. On March 19, 2012, his No. 17 jersey was retired by the Warriors. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 as part of the Dream Team and in 2011 as an individual. From 2015-2019, Mullin was the head coach at his alma mater St. John’s.
One of the best shooters ever who was a forerunner to the players and style that we see today.
Happy 62nd Birthday, Chris Mullin.
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