Robert Joseph Mullens (November 1, 1922 – July 22, 1989) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. An

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, Mullens played one full season in the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(which merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to create the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

), splitting the 1946–47 season between the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and the Toronto Huskies.

High school and college

Mullens played high school basketball at Brooklyn Prep, where he was a prodigious scorer, setting the New York City Catholic League scoring mark. Upon graduation, Mullens chose hometown Fordham. At Fordham, Mullens led the Rams to the 1943 National Invitation Tournament semifinals and at the close of the season was named an All-American by

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

magazine and the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Professional career

Mullens later was a player in the inaugural season of the BAA. He started the season with the New York Knicks, averaging 2.9 points in 26 games. He was traded to the Toronto Huskies for fellow Fordham alumnus

Bob Fitzgerald Robert James Fitzgerald (born 1966) is an American sports broadcaster who is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Golden State Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area and was a co-host of the radio talk show ''Fitz and Brooks'' on K ...

on January 21, 1947."Bob Mullens Stats"
Basketball Reference. Accessed on June 21, 2017. With the Huskies, he averaged 8.5 points per game in 28 contests. Mullens was the first player in

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

/ BAA history to play a game on his birthday; on November 1,

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

(Mullens' 24th birthday), the

, whom Mullens played for, defeated the Toronto Huskies 68–66 in the inaugural BAA game for both franchises. Mullens scored 0 points, went 0–1 from the

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

line, and recorded one personal foul. Following the close of his professional basketball career, Mullens became a bond specialist in New York City. He died on July 22, 1989, in

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

1922 births 1989 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Brooklyn Preparatory School alumni Fordham Rams men's basketball players Guards (basketball) New York Knicks players Basketball players from Brooklyn Toronto Huskies players 20th-century American sportsmen {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub