NBA: At 50, Chris Mullin Can Still Shoot Better Than You
The Thunderdome is normally home to the Gaucho basketball team of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The past week, though, it has been host to the Sacramento Kings, which clearly welcomed the change in scenery.
Of course, the locals, some of whom were students at the university, also welcomed the presence of the team and the staff. Two lucky would-be hoopsters, who were reportedly just hanging out at the Thunderdome to watch their favorite players in action, were invited to a three-point shootout against current Kings Jimmer Fredette, DeMarcus Cousins and Ben McLemore. If they won, they would be given free tickets to any Kings game of their choice, courtesy of Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
Then Ranadive suddenly threw a wrench into the in the gears -- Kings advisor Chris Mullin. For those born yesterday, Mullin was a five-time NBA All-Star, averaged 20.2 points a game in his 16-year career and is a member of the Hall of Fame. He is also known as one of the best pure shooters in the history of the game. Mullin came over from the Golden State Warriors camp, where he was the team's general manager, and was hired by the Kings in the off-season. But it seems that the title most suited to him is "shooting coach".
Mullin was introduced as a "16th-year senior" who majors in "surfboard aerodynamics" to the cheers of the crowd, who have most likely forgotten his exploits as a Golden State Warrior against the Kings. Yet, even if Mullin has already retired from the game in 2001, he still has a very smooth stroke from the outside, making 12 attempts to start the contest and missing only one shot of fifteen.
To put that into perspective, Fredette only made ten of fifteen shots, the best of the three current players. Which only means that at fifty years old, Mullin can still score on you.