Remembering the “controlled chaos” of Run TMC

It’s crazy to think about how long ago it really was that the Golden State Warriors had a sustained period of success.

Yeah, there was the jolt of We Believe adrenaline and long before that there was Chris Webber’s wild rookie year, but sustained success has been hard to come by the Warriors franchise.

For the uninitiated, you really have to go back 30 years to when Don Nelson announced that he was going to coach the Warriors beginning with the 1988-89 season. Nelson drafted Mitch Richmond, who’d win Rookie of the Year, and Tim Hardaway in the first round of the ‘88 and ‘89 draft. They’d join Chris Mullin, who was already an established shooter, on the Golden State roster. The three combined to form Run TMC, a trio that ran fast to the rim, scored a boat load of points, and kept opposing teams on their toes by rarely ever calling plays. They also might have talked a little trash along the way.

Nelson and his unconventional approach to basketball led the Warriors to the playoffs in three of his first four seasons, including the back-to-back appearances in the 1991 and 1992 playoffs — yes, the last time the Warriors made back-to-back postseason appearances was when MC Hammer was at the height of his fame.

Run TMC’s style of run and gun offense meant a ton of points and very little defense. Even though their time together on the Warriors was short-lived, it was really, really fun — it’s unquestionably how I was tricked into became a Warriors fan and to see many of the principles he advanced then dominating the league now with the Warriors at the forefront is surreal.

Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated wrote an article about Run TMC’s short-lived success and legacy back in June, but SB Nation put together a snazzy video about the team, the pizza that they won for fans, that one time that Tim Hardaway yelled in Charles Barkley’s face during a game, and how that got that amazing nickname.