Chris Mullin: "Now I would fit better in the NBA than in my time"

• LUCAS SAEZ-BRAVO

  @LucasSaezBravo

Updated Wednesday, December 28, 2022-16:35

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«I perfectly remember that Spanish team, led by

[sic], who was a great friend of ours.

He and

] used to come to Saint John's when I was in college.

They came every preseason and spent about a month with us, watching training and studying our game.

They were very close friends of coach Carnesecca."

In the middle of the interview, the astonishment.

(Brooklyn, USA, 1963), that military-looking forward and silk doll, recalls in detail the Olympic final in Los Angeles 84, the first of his two gold medals -the other, with the Dream Team in Barcelona 92;

both, along with

-, stopping in the praise of the rival coach, the one from that Spain of

and company, full boom.

In the arcane of the great and most perfect shooters in the history of basketball, Mullin can put up with anyone.

What would have been of his career in the current times of the compulsive triple?

Proper name of the era in which the NBA became forever, so New Yorker was he that when he was drafted by the Warriors and had to move to distant Oakland he fell into depression and alcohol.

Overcome the pothole, he was a five-time All Star and a member of the best team of all time.

From his residence in San Francisco, where he does not lose sight of the successes of the current Warriors, he remembers via zoom for EL MUNDO some of the adventures of his career.

How is your life now? My life is pretty good for an old man [laughs].

You know, I go watch every Warriors game and do analysis for TV.

It's fun to watch

.

It's a great life and then I have my days off.

And I have to make the hard decisions.

Am I going to swim a few laps or play golf?

When we finish the interview, I will have to decide and think about what I am going to do for the rest of the day.

He is considered one of the best shooting specialists in history, but the season he attempted the most triples (97/98, already with the Pacers), there were 243. Now, Curry,

and company easily pass 800... That's the biggest change in NBA basketball, the number of 3-pointers that are attempted and made.

There is a huge difference with my time, obviously.

But, what really matters remains the same, the quality of those releases.

We saw Houston a few years ago, they broke records for attempts and 3-pointers made.

But then, in Game 7 [the Western Conference final against the Warriors], at home, when they were winning they couldn't make those shots with quality [that night, between Harden and Ariza they missed 20 triples].

So yes, many things have changed over the years around the game, but others remain, the fundamental ones.

For there to be good shots there must be good ball movement, good screens, good cuts, good defenses,

go out in transition... And in all that the Warriors have been the best lately. It's about making good shots, not just making a lot of them.

In the Warriors dynasty, it has been overlooked that, in addition to having two of the best triple shooters in history in Curry and Klay, they also did a lot of damage with baskets from two.

They have been able to make a great movement without the ball, to find their teammates, to make great defenses to go out in transition.

That's a lot more than 3-pointers, which have become a fundamental part of the game, but the other areas still matter.

In addition to having two of the best three-pointers in history, Curry and Klay, they also did a lot of damage with two-pointers.

They have been able to make a great movement without the ball, to find their teammates, to make great defenses to go out in transition.

That's a lot more than 3-pointers, which have become a fundamental part of the game, but the other areas still matter.

In addition to having two of the best three-pointers in history, Curry and Klay, they also did a lot of damage with two-pointers.

They have been able to make a great movement without the ball, to find their teammates, to make great defenses to go out in transition.

That's a lot more than 3-pointers, which have become a fundamental part of the game, but the other areas still matter.

Can you imagine yourself in this modern basketball? Oh, sure.

He would probably fit better in today's NBA than back then.

And my career would have been more productive for longer.

But you know?

I don't regret the moment I played and with and against the players I played.

Enjoyment.

And now I enjoy the evolution of the game.

I enjoy watching the games, criticizing and analyzing.

Like most things in life, you know that everything evolves.

And for me I think that everything was positive in the NBA. He was the protagonist of the 80s and 90s, one of the most incredible times in basketball, when everything changed forever.

What was it like playing against

...?Yeah, playing against those tremendous players was amazing.

It was a time of great transition for the NBA, from the late '70s to the early '80s. From

to Magic [Johnson] and Larry and then Michael .

I was kind of in the middle of all that.

I had to go out and compete against some of the greatest players of all time.

Yes, I have nothing but tremendous memories, relationships, and friendships.

And in the end, it's about this.

They competed hard and you do everything you can and are accountable to your teammates.

That's how I earned respect, playing hard and consistent. He grew up in Brooklyn and became a St. John's legend for

.

But his first professional experience had to go far away, to the Warriors.

He admitted that it was not easy.

How do you remember it? Yeah, like you said, I grew up in New York, went to New York University and had never really been out of New York much.

Just a few times to play a tournament here and there.

I come from a big family (of Irish origin) and you know, I had all my support and protection in them.

It was a huge challenge to make that transition from the East Coast to the West.

There were some lonely moments.

Also, the team, at the beginning, was not that good.

It was a cluster of different circumstances.

But most importantly, I was able to make changes in my life to deal with my drinking problems.

And not by chance, most things got better.

First, professionally.

But the most important,

That episode occurred in his third season at Golden State.

She was spending $600 a month on calls to his family, and alcohol had become his refuge.

He began to miss training and his performance had little to do with the promise that being chosen number 7 in the 1985 draft made him. Everything changed after entering a rehabilitation program for several weeks, at the request of

, his coach.

Those therapy sessions became, as he recognized, the "best thing" that had happened to him in his life.

He has never drunk again.

What is the lesson of that? That sometimes we go through moments of adversity and when you think the worst thing in the world is happening to you, it can really be the best.

So yeah, I look back on my career and I've been able to deal with different things off the court.

And I'm grateful to have a tremendous family.

Friends, coaches and teammates who supported me.

Now, at this point in my life, I am the one who can help others and that is a great gift from God. He won two Olympic golds.

The first, against Spain in 1984. What do your memories of him take you to? The 1984 Games were a tremendous experience.

He was a junior in college and was going to play alongside Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing, a tremendous team led by

.

And playing in Los Angeles, which made it so much more fun.

He knew the coaches of Spain and he knew his players very well.

We played twice during those Games against them (in the first phase, 68-101 for Team USA).

They were older than us, they were already professionals in Spain and we were at the University.

That's why it was always a challenge for us to play against international teams.

I have fun memories of those matches, they take me back to my college days.

And, obviously, the Barcelona Games afterwards were a dream come true. Was the Dream Team the best thing that happened to you in your career? Yes, that was the highlight of my career.

A lucky moment.

I was playing at the highest level at just the right time.

After the 1984 Games,

We all thought it was our last Olympic chance, because NBA players weren't eligible.

But in 1992 it changed.

And it was a magical summer, capped off with an incredible tournament.

It was a dream.

Spending two weeks in Barcelona... there couldn't be a nicer place to play.

The people were amazing, the fans... You know?

When you do something for the first time, you don't quite know what to expect.

But those two weeks in Barcelona, ​​each day got better and better.

It's something that even some of those legendary players who had incredible careers outside of the Olympics remember as something totally unique.

It is something we can never forget.

there couldn't be a nicer place to play.

The people were amazing, the fans... You know?

When you do something for the first time, you don't quite know what to expect.

But those two weeks in Barcelona, ​​each day got better and better.

It's something that even some of those legendary players who had incredible careers outside of the Olympics remember as something totally unique.

It is something we can never forget.

there couldn't be a nicer place to play.

The people were amazing, the fans... You know?

When you do something for the first time, you don't quite know what to expect.

But those two weeks in Barcelona, ​​each day got better and better.

It's something that even some of those legendary players who had incredible careers outside of the Olympics remember as something totally unique.

It is something we can never forget.

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