For Braylon Mullins, basketball didn’t come just as an escape; it came as an added weight. He grew up with basketball instilled in him from a young age. After all, who can forget that last-minute shot against Duke in UConn’s Elite Eight game that took the team through to the Final Four?

With this one shot, Mullins has grabbed the headlines, sparking curiosity among fans about whether their UConn star is related to a certain member of the 1992 Dream Team, Chris Mullin, a player who used to nail three-pointers in the same fashion. Let’s delve deeper into it.

Is Braylon Mullins Related to Chris Mullin?

No, Mullins is not related to Chris Mullin. Their surnames might sound similar when spoken, but reports suggest they don’t share any common family ties. In fact, they are also from very different regions. While the former Golden State Warriors player is from Brooklyn, New York, Mullins’ roots are in Greenfield, Indiana.

Notably, both Braylon and Chris’s collegiate roots also trace back to the Big East conference. While the 19-year-old currently plays for UConn, the five-time NBA All-Star spent his collegiate years at St. John’s. But they absolutely don’t share any relation.

Who Is Braylon Mullins? UConn Star’s Background & Family

Mullins is a budding freshman guard who’s currently playing for the UConn Huskies. He was born in Greenfield, Indiana, on April 18, 2006, to Katie and Josh Mullins. The Huskies’ freshman does come from a basketball family. His father, Josh Mullins, played quite formidably during his collegiate years, having played at Lincoln Trail College and the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Mullins is the eldest of his three siblings and has two younger brothers: Cole and Clay. It was his father, Josh, who moulded him during his initial days in the post. With his former basketball player skill set, Josh trained Braylon for the long run through an intense regimen. The UConn freshman shared briefly about his initial days with his father in training during an interview earlier this year.

“My dad taught me to be persistent and just to try to make sure you fight through all the hard,” Mullins said. “I think he was the one who just pushed me to the max. He just made life easier in college for me.”

All of those training sessions worked out immensely in his favor as he continues to capitalize on the first stride of his collegiate career at Storrs.

Why Do Fans Think Braylon Mullins Is Related to Chris Mullin?

The similarity in surname is one of the easiest factors that leads to assumptions of a possible connection between Chris Mullin and Braylon Mullins. But on a more detailed note, their surnames might be spelled quite similarly but the spelling is slightly different. Additionally, the similarity in skill sets also factors in.

While Chris was one of the most formidable guards of his generation, with precise shooting, Braylon also fits in that profile as far as we’ve seen of him in his freshman season with UConn. For context, Mullin concluded his NBA career with 18,000+ points, boasting 50.9% from the field and 38.4% from the three-point line.

As a result, fans often make the wrong assessment that his skill set has been passed down from Chris to Braylon. But it’s not true, and they don’t share any family connections.

What Makes Braylon Mullins a Player to Watch at UConn?

When Mullins joined UConn for his freshman season, he brought immense promise with him. A top-25 recruit, Mullins was often looked at as the flagbearer of the Huskies in the future. And at this point in the season, it’s fair to say that Mullins has lived up to these expectations. On the court, Mullins brings a bag of tricks and isn’t one-dimensional, making him immensely tough to defend.

For instance, in his freshman season, players can get a bit complacent with the stakes associated with the shift. Mullins is scoring 43.4% from the field and north of 32% from the deep. Courtesy of his 6’6 height, rebounding also comes very naturally to him, and additionally is also a workhorse on defense, averaging 0.6 in blocks and 1.0 in steals.

The game-winning shot (35-foot three-point jumper) he made against the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight game was one of the prime examples in recent times of the nerves of steel that Mullins has. Even Huskies head coach Dan Hurley put his perspective on this play in a do-or-die game.

“The courage. You have a young man, he’s a rare human being,” Hurley said of Mullins. “The toughness about him, to take the shot, on a tough shooting night, but he was due.”

The future is immensely bright for this 19-year-old from Indiana. The uncertainty remains whether we will see the best of his ceiling at UConn in the coming years, or whether the NBA call is around the corner. As per ESPN mock draft projections, Mullins is among the top-25 picks of the upcoming draft. With his draft stock soaring, the question now is whether he’ll return to Storrs or make the leap to the NBA.