Chris Mills (basketball)
For other people named Christopher Mills, see Christopher Mills (disambiguation).
Chris Mills
(1970-01-25) January 25, 1970 (age 49)
Fairfax (Los Angeles, California)
Kentucky (1988–1989)
Arizona (1989–1993)
1993 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Third-team All-American – AP, NABC, UPI (1993)
Pac-10 Player of the Year (1993)
2× First-team All-Pac-10 (1992, 1993)
Second-team Parade All-American (1987)
Career NBA statistics
6,357 (11.2 ppg)
Christopher Lemonte Mills (born January 25, 1970) is a retired American professional basketball player who played ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
1 High school
3 Professional career
4 Outside basketball
Chris Mills attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, from 1986 to 1988. At 6 ft 7 in, he was the starting center for each of his three years playing varsity football there. In 1987 and 1988, he was awarded the City 4-A Player of the Year Award, as well as Mr. Football for the state of California. He was a 1988 McDonald's All-American in basketball.[1]
El Camino Real High School basketball coach, Mike McNulty said of Chris Mills, "He's one of the three best players ever to come out of Los Angeles—he's gotta be right there with John Williams and Marques Johnson." Taft High School basketball coach, Jim Woodard, echoed these sentiments when he said, "I've been watching city basketball for 33 years. Mills is the best I've ever seen. He can do it all."
Mills graduated from University of Arizona, having been kicked off the team at the University of Kentucky (UK) by the NCAA after the 1988–89 season. He was the center of a scandal involving receiving improper payments, allegedly from a UK booster. The scandal broke when a package addressed to Mills' father, Claud Mills, popped open while being sorted at Emery Worldwide, whose employees later testified that it contained a video cassette and fifty $20 bills. Claud Mills claims the package did not contain any cash when it was delivered.[2]
He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers as the 22nd overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, for whom he played four seasons (1993-94 through 1997-98). Mills then played for the New York Knicks for the 1997–98 season. He played the next five seasons (1998-99 through 2002-03) for the Golden State Warriors.[3] He was listed as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks but never actually played a game for any of them.[citation needed] He was a solid defender on the wing and a decent shooter. Mills also had several problems with his health in his late career and was not a stellar athlete, ultimately being a solid back-up off the bench.[citation needed]
In 1999, in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, after a jump ball, Mills attempted to make a basket, but on the wrong side of the court. Amazingly, his shot was blocked by opposing player Samaki Walker.[4]
Outside basketball
Mills recorded a rap single entitled "Sumptin' to Groove To," along with several NBA players such as Jason Kidd, Cedric Ceballos and J.R. Rider on the album B-Ball's Best Kept Secret released in 1994.[5] He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[6]
He also had a role in the 1998 movie Da Game of Life as a basketball player named Scooter.
^ http://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/content/dam/allamerican/pdfs/Player-Alumni-List-12-2013.pdf
^ Newswire (June 9, 1988). "Employees Reaffirm Story About Mills Package". Los Angeles Times.
^ "NBA.com/Stats _ Chris Mills".
^ "Double-oops". Seattle Times. April 21, 1999. p. E2.
^ Sumptin' to groove to - Chris Mills[permanent dead link]
^ Alpha chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc Archived September 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
NBA.com profile
ESPN.com profile
Basketball-Reference stats
LA Times story on Mills from 1988
UK stats
Shawn Bradley
Jamal Mashburn
Isaiah Rider
Calbert Cheaney
Rodney Rogers
Lindsey Hunter
Allan Houston
Terry Dehere
Scott Haskin
Doug Edwards
Rex Walters
Greg Graham
Luther Wright
Acie Earl
Ervin Johnson
Sam Cassell
Corie Blount
Geert Hammink
Malcolm Mackey
Lucious Harris
Sherron Mills
Gheorghe Mureșan
Evers Burns
Alphonso Ford
Eric Riley
Darnell Mee
Ed Stokes
John Best
Nick Van Exel
Conrad McRae
Rich Manning
Anthony Reed
Adonis Jordan
Josh Grant
Alex Holcombe
Richard Petruška
Chris Whitney
Kevin Thompson
Mark Buford
Marcelo Nicola
Spencer Dunkley
Mike Peplowski
Leonard White
Byron Wilson
Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
1976: Lee
1977: M. Johnson
1978: Greenwood
1980: Collins
1981: S. Johnson
1982: Conner
1983: Fields
1984: Green
1985: Carlander
1986: Welp
1987: Ortiz
1988: Elliott
1990: Payton
1991: Brandon
1992: Miner
1993: Mills
1995: O'Bannon & Stoudamire
1996: Abdur-Rahim
1997: Gray
1998: Bibby
1999: Terry
2000: House
2001: Lampley
2002: Clancy
2003: Ridnour
2004: Childress
2005: Diogu
2006: Roy
2007: Afflalo
2008: Love
2010: Randle
2011: Williams
2012: Gutiérrez
2013: Crabbe
2014: N. Johnson
2015: Young
2016: Pöltl
2017: Brooks
2018: Ayton
2019: Nowell
Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players
Basketball players from California
Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks
Cleveland Cavaliers players
Fairfax High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Golden State Warriors players
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Small forwards
Sportspeople from Los Angeles