Tag Archives: Golden State Warriors

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Tim Hardaway

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Tim Hardaway (Hoops Vibe)

Tim Hardaway (Hoops Vibe)

Yes! Yes!…. YES! In your face!

That’s the kind of bravado that defined the career of Tim Hardaway. Hard as it is to believe, his game did speak louder than his words. The brash pinball whirled and barreled his way into a decade-long all-star sojourn in the NBA despite a treacherous ACL tear that robbed him of his most brazen athleticism midway through his career.

Never fear, though. The least brazen of Hardaway’s athleticism was still pretty brazen.

The 6’0″ (on a good day with thick socks on) guard was an electrifying sensation when he burst into the NBA with the Golden State Warriors in the 1989-90 season. Hardaway completed the fabled triptych with Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin that formed Run-TMC. Don Nelson drove those players to push the ball at insane speeds and to score at any given opportunity.

Hardaway loved the philosophy. He revved up the pace and left defenses in ruin with his patented crossover move, the UTEP Two Step. From 1991 to 1993, Hardaway was absolutely on fire averaging 22.7 points and 10 assists a game.

Hardaway’s career was put in jeopardy after he tore his ACL prior to the 1993-94 season. Fortunately, the injury didn’t derail his career, but it did force Hardaway to alter his game. The lightning fast crossover no longer fired as quick, so Hardaway resorted more and more to his knuckleball jump shot.

A trade to the Miami Heat midway through the 1995-96 season totally reanimated Hardaway’s career. The move to Miami put Hardaway under the tutelage of Pat Riley who exhorted an exacting defensive style that slowed the pace and slogged the opponent into submission. With Alonzo Mourning manning the middle, this style tapped Hardaway’s nasty streak and the guard landed on the All-NBA 1st Team for the only time in his career in 1997 as the Heat finished with the Eastern Conference’s 2nd-best record.

Miami reached the Conference Finals where they lost to the Chicago Bulls. The 5-game defeat was the closest Hardaway got to the NBA Finals. Over the next 3 seasons the Heat lost to the New York Knicks every postseason. By the end of these heartbreaks, Hardaway was in his mid-30s and nowhere near the spark plug of his 1990 breakout or of his 1997 comeback.

His NBA breakthrough was the stuff of legend, though. Only Oscar Robertson reached 5,000 points and 2,500 assists faster than Hardaway did on the breakneck Warriors. That comeback campaign with the Heat was just as impressive as a sage Hardaway gamely mustered 20 points and 8.5 assists on one of the slowest paced offenses the NBA has ever seen.

Whatever the pace, you could always count on Tim Hardaway to be in your face.

Seasons Played: 1990 – 2003

Accolades

NBA -
All-NBA 1st Team (1997)
3x All-NBA 2nd Team (1992, 1998-’99)
All-NBA 3rd Team (1993)
5x All-Star (1991-’93, 1997-’98)
All-Rookie 1st Team (1990)

Statistics

NBA - 867 Games
17.7 PPG, 8.2 APG, 3.3 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 43.1% FG, 78.2% FT
12th All-Time in 3PT FGs, 14th All-Time in Assists
12th All-Time in APG

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Mitch Richmond

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Mitch Richmond (solecollector)

Mitch Richmond (solecollector)

Mitch Richmond is shaping up to be the forgotten player from the 1990s NBA. Looking back at that decade, Richmond was 5th in total points scored (16,613) and 8th in points per game (23.0). All of the players ahead of him, and several immediately behind him are fondly remembered as legendary players of the era.

Make no mistake, Richmond was on their caliber. The unfortunate thing, perhaps, is that Richmond had no flair or pizzazz to his game. The aptly nicknamed Rock was just dependable and unwavering in what he did on the court.

Surely, Richmond was one of the great scorers in NBA history. His jump shot was devastatingly operational from anywhere on the court. Pull ups, mid-range, fade aways, three-pointers… they were all gravy for Richmond. The Rock, again such an apt nickname, was strong as a bull as well. He could set up on the low block and punish smaller and weaker shooting guards to get himself easy buckets.

(the above video is the only playoff game Richmond ever won as a Sacramento King)

Richmond’s stout frame also allowed him to be one of the premier defenders of shooting guards. He could just throw that big body of his into opponents, rough them up, and keep them off-balance. Watching him play defense is an excellent example of how occupying space can thwart an offensive players’ effectiveness.

Beyond his defense and scoring, Richmond was also one of the best passing two-guards in the 1990s. During the first 10 years of his career, Mitch averaged 3.9 APG. An assistant coach of the Sacramento Kings once had to acknowledge that Richmond was the first, second, and third option for the Kings.

And that’s the rub for Richmond’s career.

His first three seasons saw tremendous team success playing alongside Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway (the famed Run-TMC trio) in Golden State. That team made the second round of the playoffs twice, but a foolish trade by Don Nelson sent Richmond to Sacramento in return for Billy Owens. Golden State floundered and Richmond never again endured team success. He made six All-Star games and five All-NBA teams with the Kings, but played in just four playoff games while with that franchise.

After a harrowing three years with the Washington Wizards from 1999 to 2001, Richmond ended his career in 2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He hardly played for the Lakers but nonetheless received a championship. I guess that gesture was reimbursement by the basketball fates for all the toil Richmond endured in Sacramento and Washington.

Remember, though, that the Rock never wavered and always delivered his full measure for those mediocre Kings who would have been historically awful otherwise.

Seasons Played: 1989 – 2002

Accolades

NBA –
3x All-NBA 2nd Team (1994-’95, 1997), 2x All-NBA 3rd Team (1996, 1998)
Rookie of the Year (1989), All-Rookie 1st Team (1989)
All-Star Game MVP (1995), 6x All-Star (1993-’98)
Champion (2002)

Statistics

NBA - 976 Games
21.0 PPG,3.5 APG, 3.9 RPG, 45.5% FG, 38.8% 3PT, 85.0% FT

The Lowdown: Jeff Mullins

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Years Active: 1965 – 1976
Career Stats: 804 games, 30.6 mpg
16.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 46.3% FG, 81.4% FT
Playoff Stats: 83 games, 27.2 mpg
13.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 44.9% FG, 75.1% FT
Accolades: 3x All-Star (1969 – ’71), NBA Champion (1975)

Photo by NBAE/Getty

Jeff Mullins reminds me of a cat. His moves on the basketball floor, if transferred to written words, would be classified as poetry. He is never bad. Only good and better.

- Blues Devils Forever Jeff Mullins

One of the finest college players in the country while at Duke and a member of the 1964 Olympic team, the 6’4″ Jeff Mullins was perhaps the most coveted guard entering the ’64 draft. The St. Louis Hawks pounced on him with the 5th pick, ahead of such luminaries as Willis Reed, Wali Jones, Jerry Sloan, and Mel Counts.

However, that lofty draft position belied the Hawks’ ultimate utilization of Mullins. The team was bursting with veterans and player-coach Richie Guerin elected to let Jeff ride the pine. He played a grand total of 88 games during two seasons with Saint Louis while scoring just 5.3 points in 12 minutes per game. Frustrated with his lack of playing time, Mullins informed owner Ben Kerner of his intention to quit if not allowed to play more.

Fortunately, it never came to that. With the expansion Chicago Bulls joining the league for the 1966-67 season, Mullins was left unprotected in the expansion draft by the Hawks. Chicago plucked the swingman, but then sent him packing west to the San Francisco Warriors in a trade for outstanding point guard Guy Rodgers. The Hawks would come to rue their handling of Mullins.

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