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Bay Area basketball fans have been spoiled by the Steph Curry-led Golden State Warriors of the last six years. The team represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals every year from 2015 to 2019. They won three championships in that span (2015, 2017, 2018) and finished the 2016 regular season with an NBA-record 73 wins. The team moved into the brand new Chase Center for the 2019-2020 season. But things have been ugly for the Warriors this season.
The team currently has the worst record in the NBA at 12-44. They lost Kevin Durant in the offseason to free agency (though he hasn't played all season due to injuries). Andre Iguodala took his talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat. Klay Thompson has not played a single game this season due to injuries. Curry broke his hand on October 30 and has only played four game all season. Draymond Green has been the sole familiar face on the court for the Warriors this season. But he's played a limited role as the team conceded long ago that this was a lost season.
Warriors fans were accustomed to futility. The team made the playoffs only once from 1994 to 2012. But there was a magical stretch from 1989 to 1991 that die-hard Warriors fans will always remember. The trio of point guard Tim Hardaway, shooting guard Mitch Richmond and small forward Chris Mullin anchored one of the most exciting teams in NBA history for two seasons. They were known as Run TMC (Tim, Mitch, Chris), an obviously play on the 1980s rap group Run DMC.
Coach Don Nelson instituted a motion offense that allowed the trio to get out and run on virtually every play. It resulted in a brand of basketball that forced opponents to play the same way or get ran out of the building. The team led the NBA in scoring in the 1989-90 season, the first full season for the trio.
The following season, the Warriors sold out every single game. The first game of the 1990-91 season was a 162-158 victory over the Denver Nuggets. It is still the highest scoring game in NBA regular season history without any overtimes. Mullin averaged 25.9 points per game that year, Richmond 23.9, and Hardaway 22.9. The team was broken up the following season when Richmond was traded to the Sacramento Kings for rookie Billy Owens. It's always fun to catch up with our local heroes decades later. So where are they now?
Richmond finished his NBA career in 2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won his first and only NBA Championship that year. Richmond was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. He worked for the Sacramento Kings front office for several years before joining NBC Sports in 2019. Richmond is now the pregame and postgame TV analyst for the Kings.
Hardaway was traded to the Miami Heat during the 1995-96 season. He played six seasons in Miami before finishing his career as a journeyman with the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, and Indiana Pacers. His son, Tim Hardaway Jr., was selected 24th overall by the New York Knicks in the 2013 NBA Draft. Hardaway Sr. was an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons for several years. He is also a partner with the product Dream Dribble that makes a bouncing basketball quieter for indoor use.
Mullin played 12 seasons with the Warriors before being traded to the Pacers in the 1996-97 season. He returned to Golden State for the 2000-01 season and retired as a Warrior. Mullin was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2010 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. He worked in the Warriors front office from 2002 to 2009. Mullin worked as a broadcaster for ESPN joining NBC Sports Bay Area last year. He is currently a pregame and postgame analyst for the Warriors.
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