Irish Warriors Hall Of fame: Chris Mullin

The second inductee in the Irish Warriors Hall of Fame after Eric Sleepy Floyd is an interesting mix. Having had a succesful career and being an integral part of the Run TMC offense in the late 80's early 90's he unlike a lot of NBA players Danny Ferry, Kevin McHale etc mnaged to make the conversion to the GM Office rather succesfully despite a few early bloopers he made the trade happen and has won over sections of the fanbase rather succesfully no small feat when you have an owner as inadequate as Chris Cohan.

Despite alcholism Mullin carved out his career because he was a gym rat no two ways about it . There are storys when he grew up in New York that he spent countless hours on his New York drive way shooting until it got dark. He also played a ton of Pickup games and after having a growth spurt to 6'7 and a SF he also developed a nice outside shot. No exaggeration to say he was an earlier version of Dirk Nowitzki. Starting out in St Johns unniversity in New York he broke all school scoring records and still holds the records for most points scored. It's not exactly a hotbed for NBA talent but still leading St Johns to a Final Four is the pinnacale of any College Basketball player. After this Mullin was a hot commodity and was drafted 7th by Golden State. When you consider the fact this was a draft populated by such lumiaries like Joe Kleine and Ed Pinckney for one of the few times ion their career the Warriors made a sensible choice.



Mullin really took time before the Run TMC offense settled. He was never comfortable with the West coast and his drinking problems took a toll on George Karl. Added to the fact that Chris Washburn the wasted Draft Pick of 1986 was treated for drug abuse and Mullin was walking into a mess. He frequently got on his teamates backs for not passing him the ball or in his words "freezing him out". In fact in the SF Chronicle he called it a disfunctional workplace. He needed a new coach and when Don Nelson came in the wishes were granted. Even though he's been critisced for some of his methods e.g. Hack a Shaq the critics often ignore the fact that Neslon has consistently had a good knack for changing around lost causes e.g. the Dallas Mavericks and he did the same here. He advised Mullin to get rehabillitation Mullin obliged and he showed up on the court. He not only averaged averaged 25 or more points and five rebounds he also became the only Warrior player besides Wilt Chamberlain ever to have five consecutive 25-ppg seasons. Ther are literally no other Golden State players who can boast of these accomplsihments

After his Warrior days came to an end the Chronicle felt compiled to write

There should be an unwritten good-soldier clause in every great player's contract: You lay your guts out on the line for us every night and if the team falls into general disrepair and disrepute, we'll try to move you to a team that can showcase your talents, for the good of the entire sport,"

In 2005 Mullin made the transition to the front office of the Warriors and was immediately blasted for the contracts he gave out to Dunleavy, Murphy and Foyle. Whilst the money given was ludrioous it's also worth remembering in a short span of time Chris remembered his mistakes and now not only are neither of these players here the longest serving Draft Pick is Biedrins three years now). He also fired wasted coaches Mike Montgomery, put in Don Nelson, made a blockbluster trade, let barnes and Pietrus test the market and even at one stage tried to get K.G to come to the bay. He's not your Danny Ferry GM who plays it safe which is a good thing. So with all that Chris Mullin aka Gym Rat is the scond induction into the Irish Warriors Hall Of Fame.