St. John's Great Mullin to Enter Hall [NY POST]

Lou Carnesecca is always impressed when Chris Mullin's name is mentioned to him on the street.

"I walk down Union Turnpike now and some elderly woman will say, "How's Mullin doing?" said Carnesecca, the legendary former St. John's coach. "All these years later."

All these years later, after splashing the nets of practically every important New York City playground as a teenager, sizzling as a lefty sniper at Alumni Hall for St. John's in the 1980s and becoming a five-time All-Star with Golden State after winning a battle with alcoholism, Mullin is heading into the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/st_john_great_mullin_to_enter_hall_ugWze5vJ95CJqqpYQQfyKJ#ixzz1ULwjYfFU

JJ--thanks for posting this.  When I read in the paper this morning, I was hoping someone would share it with the Jungle.

I loved the article as I sat through all of Chris' home games and a number on the road.  He was wonderful to watch and deserved the accolades but his greatest feat was beating his alcohol addiction.  The quotes about NY and St John's are great and his thoughts of playing for the Knicks were not only his but those of many of us.  Him teaming with his college nemesis, Patrick, might have brought them each an NBA title.

St. John's legend.  My first basketball jersey!!!  Congrats!!!

 The Best!

Great story and great, great player!

I like the part where he states that there were always taller and faster players on the court when he was playing around NYC.  You know what Mullin record I think is awesome- the most steals.  He had great anticipation.

Question--- How many more points do you think Chris would have had shooting 3's?

I remember when he signed with us. The big story was us beating Duke for this kid from Brooklyn.  Coach K. must have really saw the real potential of Chris.

It would be nice if we could add another 6'5-6'6''  shooter, say from the West Coast in 2012.

The Best!

No doubt.

The article did not mention the date of the Hall of Fame induction?

Does anyone know when it is I am sure NBA TV network will cover it live.

thanks Moose the enshrinement is Friday 8/12/11 at 8pm

"The thing I learned as I got to know him is it wasn't because of his god-given ability," said Jackson, later his college and NBA teammate. "It was more his preparation and the hours he put in to become great."

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_18647513?nclick_check=1

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Chris-Mullin-plays-Larry-Bird-to-a-tie?urn=nba-wp7274

Larry Bird and Chris Mullin came from very different backgrounds. Bird was a native of rural Indiana, and he plied his collegiate trade at Indiana State, playing in relative obscurity in Indiana's third-biggest NCAA hoops stage. Mullin was a Brooklyn guy with the accent to match, suiting up for home games at Madison Square Garden with the St. John's (then) Redmen. Bird was drafted by the famous Boston Celtics, while Mullin was picked up by the usually infamous Golden State Warriors.

But holy lord, could those two shoot. To a point, during their time with the 1992 Team USA "Dream Team," where they canceled each other out, shooting hoops for a hundred bucks a pop.

Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle relays the tale:

    "It was just basic shots - jumpers, bank shots, not like the McDonald's commercial (laughter)," Mullin said. "I got off nice. After a while I had him by ... quite a bit."

    [...]

    "More than that. I think I was up like 20 shots. So we're talkin' back and forth (Bird was a legendary trash talker), and he starts coming back. I'm thinking, we could go another 30 minutes. Somebody's gonna win big here.

    "Finally, he gets it back to zero," Mullin said, "and he goes, 'I'm out.' Just cut off the game right there."

    What, he didn't want to take you down?

    "Nope. Says to me, 'I ain't never lost, and I ain't ... now.' "

Bird went on to push to trade for Mullin when he became coach of the Indiana Pacers in 1997, and there have been some rumors of Mullin working in the Pacers' front office alongside Bird as Larry contemplates his NBA future. Also, they combined (with Mullin running the Warriors at the time) on an eight-player trade in 2007 that didn't really do a whole hell of a lot for either the Warriors or the Pacers.

Call it a tie, I suppose.

Mr. Mullin profited from his relationship with St. John's University.

Let's hope that he someday shows some appreciation via the St. John's Development Office.

Mr. Mullin profited from his relationship with St. John's University.

Let's hope that he someday shows some appreciation via the St. John's Development Office.

Jake, this is a rather strange post.  How do you know he has not done so throughout the years?

Mr. Mullin profited from his relationship with St. John's University.

Let's hope that he someday shows some appreciation via the St. John's Development Office.

What a turrible thing to say on this most celebrated of events. Shameful really.

Jake = Otis?

Jake = Otis?

Quick, someone say something about Big Ten expansion and see if Jake writes a 50-paragraph post about the Big Ten Research Consortium.

As Chris Mullin is enshrined into the Naismith Hall of Fame tomorrow in Springfield, Mass., for his spectacular career at Xaverian, St. John's and the NBA, it is a Hall of Shame the pride of Flatbush is not going in while holding a Knicks' front-office title.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/walsh_wanted_mullin_as_knicks_gm_nhLt7Rw7i4wF7FDOT6z8pI#ixzz1UlqCqFkS

Dennis Rodman, never short on loud opinions, said Brooklyn's Chris Mullin played in the wrong system in the NBA and could’ve been as good as Larry Bird if he was in the right place.

Rodman and Mullin, a five-time All-Star and former St. John’s superstar, are the two headliners for Friday night’s Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony. Rodman created waves by wearing a shiny black tank top and big dark shades during Thursday’s formal press conference. Rodman was saved by being forced to wear the Hall of Fame’s black blazer during the formalities.

“Chris had the smoothest jump shot as a lefty - snap and pop and boom,’’ Rodman said. “He was smooth when he shot the ball. He could have been the second coming of Larry Bird. They had the same mannerisms and mindset. ‘’

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/hall_of_compliment_rodman_compares_7NG6DLMXBEJPTO7mPy1KiK#ixzz1UlqVwWqq