Biography of NBA Legend Chris Mullin and His Basketball Career

Chris Mullin was born on July 30, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended high school first at Power Memorial Academy, then at Christ the King Regional High School, and then at Catholic Xaverian High School. Mullin was a standout basketball player at all three schools. Mullin's talent in the high school game caught the eye of many college scouts but he ultimately chose St. John's University in Queens, New York.

It did not take long for Mullin to make an impact of the college game. He averaged 16.6 points per game during his freshman year. During his four years at St. John's, Mullin was the Big East Conference player of the year three times, was invited to play on the 1984 Olympic team, and played in the 1985 NCAA Final Four.

After Mullin's college career was over, he made the move to the limelight of the NBA. He was drafted with the 7^th pick overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1985 NBA Draft. Mullin appeared in 55 games during his first NBA season and managed to score 14.0 points per game. After a solid rookie season he looked to play a larger role for the Warriors and averaged 15.1 points per game while helping to lead the team to the NBA Western Conference Finals. Though the eventually lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, this success was a large stepping stone for Mullin's career.

Though Mullin averaged a solid 20.2 points per game during his third year in the league, the Warriors did not experience much success. Mullin's personal life was even becoming shaky and effecting the team negatively. He missed about a quarter of the season due to injury. Coach George Karl was fired before the season ended.

Before the 1988-1989 season, newly hired Warriors coach Don Nelson advised Mullin to visit an alcohol rehabilitation program because his excessive drinking was becoming not only harmful to Mullin's body and game, but also his team. Mullin agreed to do this and the decision paid off greatly for him. His statistics immediately looked better as he averaged 26.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game in 1989. He would go on to put up similar numbers for the next four seasons as well.

With Mullin's new look on life and better work ethic, the Warriors went to the NBA postseason for 5 straight years. Mullin would go on to experience great personal success and be selected for the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. The Dream Team is widely regarded as the greatest basketball team ever assembled.

In 1993-1994 Mullin missed 20 games and only managed to score 16.8 points per game. Though his body was getting older and less mobile, Mullin still put up decent numbers during the next few seasons with the Warriors. Team unity began to fall apart, however, and the Warriors replaced Coach Don Nelson. Mullin was traded to the Indiana Pacers before the 1997-1998 season.

Mullin played in all 82 game during his first year in Indiana and scored 11.3 points per game while playing a leadership role. In 1998-1999 his minutes decreased to about 24 per game and Mullin's career continued to wind down. He would play with Indiana through the 1999-2000 season before being traded back to the Golden State Warriors. Mullin played 20 games for the Warriors and then retired.

Chris Mullin was a great player who was an automatic shooter and had versatile moves anywhere on the court. He was one of the greatest players of the star-studded NBA in the 1990's.