Is Chris Mullin criminally underrated?

[Nowitness]

Mully was a beast. Prolly the best SF of the eighties.

Top 2 shooter all time, great slasher, rebounder, passer, made everyone better.

Deserves this coaching job for Sacramento over other career losers like George Karl.

[daprunus]

He was a pretty solid player. He would be a role player in today's game.

[Marchesk]

Not better than Alex English. :no:

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Larry Bird?

[Marchesk]

https://goingahamm.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tumblr_m4nf0yl49d1ruj0bpo1_r1_1280.jpg

[the mesiah]

Mully was a beast. Prolly the best SF of the eighties.
:biggums: :biggums:
I would without a doubt take bird, julius,nique , worthy over Mully

[OldSchoolBBall]

:biggums: :biggums:
I would without a doubt take bird, julius,nique , worthy over Mully

Mullin from '90-'93 was better than Worthy ever was. Worthy's defensive advantage is negated by Mullin's far superior passing, and Mullin was a much better scorer.

[Marchesk]

Mullin from '90-'93 was better than Worthy ever was. .

90-93 isn't the 80s, but other than that ...

There are probably a half dozen small forwards in the 80s better than Mullin.

[fandarko]

He was a pretty solid player. He would be a role player in today's game.

Hahaha, how old are you?

Perrenial all star, that's for sure.

[fandarko]

Mully was a beast. Prolly the best SF of the eighties.

Top 2 shooter all time, great slasher, rebounder, passer, made everyone better.

Deserves this coaching job for Sacramento over other career losers like George Karl.

Let's not get carried away here.

He was a great player and formidable shooter. But far from the best SF.

[daprunus]

Hahaha, how old are you?

Perrenial all star, that's for sure.

Wow you really are a stan for 90s players.

[tamaraw08]

Mully was a beast. Prolly the best SF of the eighties.

Top 2 shooter all time, great slasher, rebounder, passer, made everyone better.

Deserves this coaching job for Sacramento over other career losers like George Karl.

What I love about Mullin is his basic approach of the game. Move without the ball and go his sweet spots from as far as 26 feet, if open, takes a shot, if not, rotate the ball and move again. :bowdown:
No Carmelo, Joe Johnson stuff like hold the ball, dribble dribble for like 6 seconds while his teammates look on.
Having said that, Im not sure about his coaching ability. Why the heck not should he be an assistant first and gain experience. I sense Kings owner just marvelled at Kerr, rookie white dude who is mild mannered. Hey, he is good, so why not get a same kind in Mullin. :rolleyes:
Kerr inherited a stacked team, we don't know how he'll do in the playoffs. He could be another Flip Saunders for all we know.

[Tking714]

Mullin would easily be an all star today. His Competition is Joe Johnson, Derozan, Harden, Afflalo, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Hayward??, Rudy??. He's better then all of them easily, even though Harden has a decent case he's too one-dimensional.

[the mesiah]

Mullin from '90-'93 was better than Worthy ever was. Worthy's defensive advantage is negated by Mullin's far superior passing, and Mullin was a much better scorer.
OP stated 80's,but yea those 3-4 assists per game were FAR superior (worthy had same assists per In the twilight of his career ) during those years and that negates his D :facepalm :facepalm ..no version of chris could do what big game james did in that 88 finals series.

[Height Freak]

I'll take Mullin over Klay Thompson in today's NBA :)

[bizil]

I don't think Mullin is underrated AT ALL! Making the 92 Dream Team for sure boosted his profile. I feel he was a great player at his best. And one of the most fundamentally sound offensive SF's ever. In many ways, he was a smaller swingman version of Larry Bird. Wasn't as good as Bird, but similar in approach and skillset.

He for sure WASN'T the top SF of the 80's. That's easily Bird. But when it comes to great shooting and passing as a package, he was number two behind Bird. Mullin was really a guy capable of getting 7 dimes a night, but with Hardaway in the backcourt he didn't need to facilitate as much.

[OldSchoolBBall]

OP stated 80's,but yea those 3-4 assists per game were FAR superior (worthy had same assists per In the twilight of his career ) during those years and that negates his D :facepalm :facepalm ..no version of chris could do what big game james did in that 88 finals series.

It's not just the raw apg numbers, but the effect Mullin's passing ABILITY had, combined with his higher volume more efficient scoring, made him a much more versatile and dangerous player than Worthy.

And what did Worthy do in the '88 Finals? He had a fantastic game 7, but averaged 22/7/4/49% FG for the series, which Mullin could easily do. And to suggest that Mullin couldn't have a 36/10/10 game is ridiculous for two reasons: Worthy was never a noted passer, so that was an EXTREME outlier game for him; and Mullin is a far better passer than Worthy anyway.

Mullin was just a much more dangerous player on his own (i.e., when not finishing a break or being set up), and also a better player fit on most teams due to his shooting and passing.

[Der Zed]

https://goingahamm.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tumblr_m4nf0yl49d1ruj0bpo1_r1_1280.jpg
I have been staring at this picture for 10 minutes straight. so frickin great!

P.S. Mully was a murderer: a lock to hit every long range shot against your team. he had that Andrew Toney sonofabitchedness about him.

[bizil]

https://goingahamm.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tumblr_m4nf0yl49d1ruj0bpo1_r1_1280.jpg

Yep those are the top two SF's of the 1980's. Once Doc slowed down, history will show that Nique was number two behind Bird. I would go so far to say that Bird vs. Nique was the SECOND GREATEST SF rivalry of all time behind Doc vs. Bird. Hopefully Durant vs. Lebron can meet up in the Finals to have some more epic showdowns to get on the level of the other two SF rivalries.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Lack of activity could mean he's not underrated. Surely not criminally underrated. If everyone came in here clamoring that he wasn't underrated, then clearly he wouldn't be due to everyone would already be thinking so highly of him.

I also don't get how Karl is a career loser when if he came back, he would have a shot at the most wins for an NBA coach ever. Random, but whatever. Players aren't the only ones who had the legacy suffer due to Jordan and the Bulls.

[MP.Trey]

The tongue on Bird's Converses are f*cking huge.

[Top Gun]

He's in the HOF so don't see how he's underrated.

[Smoke117]

Not really. He played on the team with the number 1 pace in the league during his prime...and Warriors only won over 50 games twice while he was there. He was in an super up tempo offense with countless opportunities to acquire offensive numbers (points and assist). He didn't really do any winning in his prime though. Nobody cares about stats you are putting up on losing and .500 teams...especially when that is your career up until you were on the downside and became a role player.

[Round Mound]

Best Shooter I Ever Saw :bowdown:

[Height Freak]

http://33.media.tumblr.com/838341def1bea06d975d832eaf693995/tumblr_mqx657lIIJ1sdydefo1_400.gif

http://38.media.tumblr.com/0b0719e6a79efb201413e64f9bc02cf9/tumblr_mrakm2BqC51sdydefo1_500.gif

http://31.media.tumblr.com/787c1387b8b5a90caa862dabd113dac3/tumblr_mraktvPpa51sdydefo1_500.gif

http://38.media.tumblr.com/0dca1cca4a7ae792eaad9a1e1ecf3998/tumblr_n85izeWKz41sdydefo1_400.gif

[bizil]

Like many have stated, Mullin isn't underrated really. And CERTAINLY he isn't criminally underrated. Mullin is ALWAYS regarded fondly among those in the basketball establishment. He was one of the original 10 Dream Team members chosen.

Now take a guy like Nique for example. He's scored more points that ANY SF in NBA history and wasn't first ballot HOF. Nique ALSO was shafted from the 50 Greatest list as well. He's regarded by MANY in the basketball establishment as a great showman BUT NOT are great player. And that was CLEAR by the notable omissions I just named.

Nique was an absolute superstar at his peak, a top 10 player in the world, and the 2nd best SF in the world for many years. He was also a great player for a long ass time. For me, Nique is WAY MORE CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED in a sense than Mullin EVER WAS!

And other high scoring SF's in the 80's like English, Dantley, King, and Aguirre tend to get hated on too. The most premium asset in basketball is ALPHA DOG LEVEL SCORING!! Just for that ALONE those guys need to be more respected. Just because they aren't a Bird or Bron in terms of all around ability DOESN'T mean they weren't great players. They often get the label of all they can do is score! LMBAO Like scoring nearly 30 points a night is easy to do! So in terms of HATEFUL criminal underrated players, I actually think Nique may be the most underrated in that sense. The way many people portray his game and career is STRAIGHT HATER SHIT!!

In terms of players that are underrated in terms of NOT EVER making an All Star team, u got a guy like Rod Strickland. And I think in terms of a stretch PF pioneer, Tom Chambers is VERY UNDERRATED over time. After McAdoo was done, Chambers was for me the next one to take that mantle. He was the same size as McAdoo AND was a freakish athlete on top of it at 6'10. He had a true swingman's scoring skillset. He was the guy in between McAdoo and Dirk.

[Nowitness]

8 years later and I think my original point is proven.

Mully’s skillset, if transported to the game of 2022 would have him as a top 10 player all time. As a pure player he was a far better offensive talent than any other SF from his era, whilst routinely playing on mediocre teams.

[1987_Lakers]

8 years later and I think my original point is proven.

Mully’s skillset, if transported to the game of 2022 would have him as a top 10 player all time. As a pure player he was a far better offensive talent than any other SF from his era, whilst routinely playing on mediocre teams.

LOL

[Full Court]

I remember Mullen best for being on the Dream Team. Fun fact: Mullen and Malone were tied for the team's rebound leaders with a 5.3 rebound average.

[1987_Lakers]

I remember Mullen best for being on the Dream Team. Fun fact: Mullen and Malone were tied for the team's rebound leaders with a 5.3 rebound average.

You got the players confused. Malone & Ewing were tied for rebounding leaders on that team. Mullin was almost dead last in rebounds.

You also spelled his name wrong.

[Full Court]

You got the players confused. Malone & Ewing were tied for rebounding leaders on that team. Mullin was almost dead last in rebounds.

You also spelled his name wrong.

Pardon the typo.

According to nba.com, Mullin and Malone were tied for rebound leaders on the team.

https://www.nba.com/stats/articles/1992-dream-team-by-the-numbers

[TheGoatest]

Yet another guy who was a top 5 perimeter player of the 90s, but wouldn't be top 15 perimeter player in the 2010s.
That's how weak the 90s were.

[Round Mound]

Mullin was the best long 2 shooter i've seen. In today's nba he would just practice more threes and be one of the best shooters right there next to Stephen Curry. Mullin was a great passer aswell. Defensively though he wasn't that good.

[1987_Lakers]

Pardon the typo.

According to nba.com, Mullin and Malone were tied for rebound leaders on the team.

https://www.nba.com/stats/articles/1992-dream-team-by-the-numbers

https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/teams/united-states/1992.html

[Overdrive]

Mullin would kill in today's NBA. Always liked his game. Had such effortless smoothness to it. Kinda like Klay. Touch the ball 7 times, still score 15 points, with dribbling once.

[John8204]

Could have been in the top 75 and I wouldn't blink an eye just one of the all-time great shooters


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW728Zm6gcY

[Xiao Yao You]

Could have been in the top 75 and I wouldn't blink an eye just one of the all-time great shooters


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW728Zm6gcY

should be top 75. Great player

[John8204]

should be top 75. Great player

Not the biggest snub of the top 75...that's Alex English but I have him in my all-time 60's tier and he could fit in the 50's


51-60
Cousy, Drexler, Embiid, English, Miller, Nash, Pierce, Rodman, Schayes, Wilkins
61-70
Allen, Carmello, Cowens, Gilmore, Lillard, McAdoo, Moncrief, Mullin, Unseld, Worthy
71-80
Davis, Howard, D. Johnson, Klay, Lucas, Monroe, Mourning, Mutombo, Parish, Westbrook

[L.Kizzle]

should be top 75. Great player
He wasn't even top 50 (no offense) he has no shot at making 75.

I'm still shocked he made the Original Dream Team tho. Of the 11, he's the least talked about of them. Even in that era, he wasn't mentioned along with the other 10.
Interesting enough, he was All-NBA 1st team in 92 along with four other Dream teamers.

[Xiao Yao You]

He wasn't even top 50 (no offense) he has no shot at making 75.

I'm still shocked he made the Original Dream Team tho. Of the 11, he's the least talked about of them. Even in that era, he wasn't mentioned along with the other 10.
Interesting enough, he was All-NBA 1st team in 92 along with four other Dream teamers.

He certainly should have been a Dream Teamer. I would have had Isiah instead of Pippen, Daugherty, instead of Ewing and Shaq instead of Laettner.

[1987_Lakers]

He certainly should have been a Dream Teamer. I would have had Isiah instead of Pippen, Daugherty, instead of Ewing and Shaq instead of Laettner.

There was no need for Isiah with Magic & peak Stockton already on the team. Besides, Isiah was already on the downside of his career by '92. Daugherty over Ewing doesn't make any sense.

Pippen led the entire dream team in assists and provided great defense, team would have been worse with Isiah on it instead of him. Never understood the people who were upset Isiah didn't make the team, Magic & Stockton were better players by '92. Magic didn't play in the '92 season, but he was a year removed from taking his team to the Finals while playing at an extremely high level.

The only change I would make is have Shaq over Laettner. Bird was probably the worst player on that team not including Laettner, but still cool he was on it.

[Xiao Yao You]

There was no need for Isiah with Magic & peak Stockton already on the team. Besides, Isiah was already on the downside of his career by '92. Daugherty over Ewing doesn't make any sense.

Pippen led the entire dream team in assists and provided great defense, team would have been worse with Isiah on it instead of him. Never understood the people who were upset Isiah didn't make the team, Magic & Stockton were better players by '92. Magic didn't play in the '92 season, but he was a year removed from taking his team to the Finals while playing at an extremely high level.

There was no need for lots of guys. Stockton got hurt and Pippen played pg. Lots of them were on the downside at the time. Magic was retired! I had Daugherty on Ewing's tier and he was a different type of center than Robinson or Ewing. Made perfect sense. Ewing made sense because he'd been hyped throughout college and onto NY. Who cares who led what in anything? There were only a couple first halves where the other team was even within double figures of them. Laettner could have played 40 minutes a night and they would have dominated

[1987_Lakers]

There was no need for lots of guys. Stockton got hurt and Pippen played pg. Lots of them were on the downside at the time. Magic was retired! I had Daugherty on Ewing's tier and he was a different type of center than Robinson or Ewing. Made perfect sense. Ewing made sense because he'd been hyped throughout college and onto NY. Who cares who led what in anything? There were only a couple first halves where the other team was even within double figures of them. Laettner could have played 40 minutes a night and they would have dominated

Sure, his defense was way worse compared to D-Rob & Ewing. :lol

[Xiao Yao You]

Sure, his defense was way worse compared to D-Rob & Ewing. :lol

and his passing was a lot better. So was his team

[Xiao Yao You]

Laettner was supposedly picked over Shaq because they already had Ewing and Robinson. You could argue Shaq was already better than Ewing at that time too

[1987_Lakers]

and his passing was a lot better. So was his team

No need for his passing when you already have Magic, Stockton, Pippen & even Mullin was a fine passer himself. Ewing was the clearly more impactful player, and he was actually the team's best center at the olympics in terms of production over D-Rob.

Having Daugherty on the team instead of Ewing is almost like having Karl-Anthony Towns over Embiid.

[L.Kizzle]

He certainly should have been a Dream Teamer. I would have had Isiah instead of Pippen, Daugherty, instead of Ewing and Shaq instead of Laettner.
Brad D over Pat E, come on man

[Xiao Yao You]

No need for his passing when you already have Magic, Stockton, Pippen & even Mullin was a fine passer himself. Ewing was the clearly more impactful player, and he was actually the team's best center at the olympics in terms of production over D-Rob.

Having Daugherty on the team instead of Ewing is almost like having Karl-Anthony Towns over Embiid.

no need for anything. That's the point. You pick the best 12. They got 9 out of the 12 as far as I'm concerned. 75%. Best of any Dream Team still. Ewing wasn't clearly more impactful. He was hyped more from the time he was a freshman in college until they rigged the lottery so he'd go to NY. Cleveland had the better team until he got hurt. Embiid is playing for France and Towns could make more sense if it was a choice. Embiid's career could end the next time he falls to the floor. He's made of glass

[1987_Lakers]

no need for anything. That's the point. You pick the best 12. They got 9 out of the 12 as far as I'm concerned. 75%. Best of any Dream Team still. Ewing wasn't clearly more impactful. He was hyped more from the time he was a freshman in college until they rigged the lottery so he'd go to NY. Cleveland had the better team until he got hurt. Embiid is playing for France and Towns could make more sense if it was a choice. Embiid's career could end the next time he falls to the floor. He's made of glass

By this logic it makes zero sense to pick Daugherty over Ewing. Nobody at the time thought Daugherty was better than Ewing, utter nonsense.

You say Cleveland had a better team, which I don't know what that has to do with comparing individual players, but if you want to take it that route, the Knicks in '92 gave the Bulls a way tougher series than Cleveland did. Ewing then went on to anchor a historical defense in '93 & '94.

[Xiao Yao You]

By the logic it makes zero sense to pick Daugherty over Ewing. Nobody at the time thought Daugherty was better than Ewing, utter nonsense.

You say Cleveland had a better team, which I don't know what that has to do with comparing individual players, but if you want to take it that route, the Knicks in '92 gave the Bulls a way tougher series than Cleveland did. Ewing then went on to anchor a historical defense in '93 & '94.

I thought he was on Ewing's tier so not nobody. Again we're talking '92 not '94. 22 pts(57%) 7 FTA(78%) 3 off reb/10 reb 4 ass 1 stl 1 blk 57-24

Ewing 24 pts (52%) 6 FTA (74%) 3 off reb 11 reb 2 ass 1 stl 3 blk 51-31

Comparable stats. Daugherty led the Cavs to the better record by 6 games so yes if you forget the hype they are comparable

[1987_Lakers]

I thought he was on Ewing's tier so not nobody. Again we're talking '92 not '94. 22 pts(57%) 7 FTA(78%) 3 off reb/10 reb 4 ass 1 stl 1 blk 57-24

Ewing 24 pts (52%) 6 FTA (74%) off reb 11 reb 2 ass 1 stl 3 blk 51-31

Comparable stats. Daugherty led the Cavs to the better record by 6 games so yes if you forget the hype they are comparable

Daugherty also led the Cavs to a better record than D-Rob and the Spurs in '92, yet nobody in their right mind would say Daugherty was better than Robinson. You are using elementary school like arguments. Cavs had a really solid roster overall.

'92 Robinson: All-NBA First Team
'92 Ewing: All-NBA Second Team (ditto for '91)

D-Rob & Ewing also received more MVP votes than Daugherty in '92 as well.

Your only weak argument is "He had team success, more wins", but by that logic, Devin Booker was a better player than guys like Embiid, Jokic, & Giannis this past season.

Good riddance.

[Xiao Yao You]

Daugherty also led the Cavs to a better record than D-Rob and the Spurs in '92, yet nobody in their right mind would say Daugherty was better than Robinson. You are using elementary school like arguments. Cavs had a really solid roster overall.

'92 Robinson: All-NBA First Team
'92 Ewing: All-NBA Second Team (ditto for '91)

D-Rob & Ewing also received more MVP votes than Daugherty in '92 as well.

Your only weak argument is "He had team success, more wins", but by that logic, Devin Booker was a better player than guys like Embiid, Jokic, & Giannis this past season.

Good riddance.

Robinson and Hakeem were on a different level which is why they weren't in this discussion. Daugherty and Ewing were on a similar tier though Ewing was always hyped with the other two. I had lots of arguments. None of them had to do with Robinson though. His stats were also comparable. Ewing probably was more valuable to his team. Daugherty had Price co leading the Cavs. As for all NBA Ewing was hyped since he was 18. He was great but never lived up to the hype

I would have taken Daugherty over Ewing in '92. If I wanted to dive deeper now I might change my mind?

[1987_Lakers]

Robinson and Hakeem were on a different level which is why they weren't in this discussion. Daugherty and Ewing were on a similar tier though Ewing was always hyped with the other two. I had lots of arguments. None of them had to do with Robinson though. His stats were also comparable. Ewing probably was more valuable to his team. Daugherty had Price co leading the Cavs. As for all NBA Ewing was hyped since he was 18. He was great but never lived up to the hype

I would have taken Daugherty over Ewing in '92. If I wanted to dive deeper now I might change my mind?


I agree that he never lived up to the hype, which is weird to say because he is still one of the top 30-40 players ever. The fact that he was drafted by the Knicks also made the hype even greater, but he still had an outstanding career. To me Ewing's defense alone is why he is clearly better than Daugherty to me. To me being a defensive anchor as a big man does wonders for your team, and it clearly outweighs Daugherty's edge as a passer, Ewing was also a better scorer. Ewing wasn't as dominant on the defensive end as D-Rob & Hakeem, but he was still a top tier rim protector while Daugherty wasn't known for his defense.

[Xiao Yao You]

I agree that he never lived up to the hype, which is weird to say because he is still one of the top 30-40 players ever. The fact that he was drafted by the Knicks also made the hype even greater, but he still had an outstanding career. To me Ewing's defense alone is why he is clearly better than Daugherty to me. To me being a defensive anchor as a big man does wonders for your team, and it clearly outweighs Daugherty's edge as a passer, Ewing was also a better scorer. Ewing wasn't as dominant on the defensive end as D-Rob & Hakeem, but he was still a top tier rim protector while Daugherty wasn't known for his defense.

A better scorer or just higher usage? Daugherty was certainly more efficient.

[RRR3]

Xiao suddenly doesn’t care about center defense when it comes to a debate without Toody. Odd.

[Xiao Yao You]

can't quit me! :facepalm