Chris Mullin is a guy sources say has the trust and ear of Sacramento Kings’ owner Vivek Ranadivé. It was Mullin who helped push for moves such as the firing of Mike Malone to help turn Sacramento into a more uptempo team.
Now he’s going to run his own program on the other coast — he has reportedly accepted the job of head coach at his alma mater St. John’s in New York City.
There had been rumors that Mullin had pushed to replace Pete D’Alessandro as general manager. However, with the hiring of George Karl — and him getting some say in player/personnel moves with the franchise — that position may have had less power. (There were also rumors he wanted to coach the Kings, but people closer to the Kings dismissed that.)
Mullin is a Hall of Famer who had a storied college career — he won the Wooden Award in 1985 as the top college player in the nation. He was a two-time All-American as a member of the Red Storm. He went on to a 16-year NBA career, most of it with the Golden State Warriors, where he also later was a general manager.
He takes over for Steve Lavin; the two sides split on mutual agreement (officially). Whether Mullin can recruit remains to be seen, but on paper it looks like a great hire for St. John’s. One that should make the alumni donors happy.