He heard the news about Vin Baker and he had one reaction: happiness. "I can totally empathize," Chris Mullin said over the phone from Oakland, Calif., where he's helping run the Golden State Warriors. "But when I look back on my own experience, as tough as it was, it also became the beginning of my life. So I'm happy and kind of excited for him to see what lies ahead. Hopefully, everything will fall into place for him. It's good news."

Mullin does indeed have an insight into Baker's recent acknowledgement that he is an alcoholic. Like Baker, Mullin fought the disease for years through denial. Like Baker, he played well enough to be an NBA All-Star and, like Baker, he played long enough to lead the league in minutes. And, like Baker, he was finally forced to confront his demons and did so. He came out of it healthy, and played well enough to become a member of the US "Dream Team" at the 1992 Olympics, and one of the elite players of his time.

"For me, [alcohol] was as much a part of my upbringing as anything," Mullin said. "It was my neighborhood. It was a character trait. Or defect, really. I was being ruled by something else. I tell kids now that I was a pretty good basketball player and a pretty good drinker. But I had to give up one to be really good. Maybe some guys can do both. I couldn't."

And when he stopped drinking, he became a workout maniac, working with strength coach Mark Grabow to build a chiseled body that one could hardly have envisioned given the memory of the floppy-haired kid from St. John's who was the seventh pick in the 1985 draft. Mullin said he didn't take up gym work to fill the alcohol void.

"I always liked to work out," he said. "It's just a little bit hard when you're always coming in at 4 in the morning."

He said Baker already has taken the first, critical step: admitting his problem. The next step, Mullin said, will be to stay committed to the recovery and rehab program that has been put in place.

"That's important. You have to admit that you've got the problem," he said. "It's not everyone else. It's not the weather. That's not it. The only time you'll see change is when you take it on yourself.

"The priority is to put your life back together. The basketball will take its course."