A Look Back At Nets’ History: The Mookie Blaylock/Pearl Jam Story

As mentioned in the prior post, this is the premier of a brand new series here on The Nets Nation. “A Look Back At Nets’ History” will be a weekly post every Sunday. The series will be filled with all kinds of interesting posts about the history of your New Jersey Nets, whether that be on or off the court.

By: Adam Callahan

Darren Oshay Blaylock. One of the NBAs greatest examples that size isn’t everything. To win in this league, you need commitment, passion, drive, and heart. Mookie Blaylock fit this mold perfectly. Standing at a mere 6’1 and 190 lbs, Blaylock had a very successful career in the league. A career full of highlights, one being that Mookie is one of the 34 players in the history of this game to have 22 or more assists in a game.

Blaylock’s career began in 1989, when the New Jersey Nets drafted him 12th overall out of the University of Oklahoma. Mookie played his college ball first at Midland College, and later transferred to the University of Oklahoma to become a Sooner. Fellow NBA little man, Spud Webb, also went to Midland College before moving onto N.C. State. When the Nets drafted Blaylock out of the University of Oklahoma, he had a reputation as a relentless defender. He had the record for most steals in a season, 150, and most steals in a single game, 13. On top of this he averaged 3.8 steals a game, setting a record in the NCAA. Mookie also became the first player in NCAA history to eclipse 200 assists and 100 steals in back-to-back seasons. Blaylock took the Sooners to the 1988 National Championship, where they lost to the Kansas Jayhawks.

After playing remarkably well distributing the ball on offense and pestering the opponent on defense in college, Blaylock was ready to take the next step in his career. After drafting him 12th overall, the Nets hoped they had found their point guard of the future. Blaylock did a good job of quickly adapting to the NBA level, however, his season wasn’t as long as many had hoped. He broke his left pinky and missed a total of 32 games. Blaylock was pretty impressive when healthy though, averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per in a total of 50 games.

Starting just 17 of the 50 games he played in his rookie season, Mookie Blaylock performed well enough to show coaches and management that he was ready to become the team’s starting point guard. He started 70 of the 72 games he played in his sophmore season. Blaylock was third in the team’s scoring, with 14.1 points per game, behind rookie sensation Derrick Coleman and Reggie Theus. He was 6th in the NBA in steals, averaging 2.35 per game. Despite Mookie’s quality season and a strong rookie campaign from Nets’ number 1 pick Derrick Coleman, the Nets finished the season 26-56 and missed out on the playoffs.

The Nets had the 2nd overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. The first pick belonged to the Charlotte Hornets who were to select UNLV prospect Larry Johnson. That left the Nets to select from a pool of extremely talented players. However, of these players, the clear-cut cream of the crop was Georgia Tech product Kenny Anderson. Anderson, a point guard like Blaylock, was a LeFrak City, Queens native. The Nets now had a logjam at the point guard position, who was their point guard for the future? The quickly maturing Mookie Blaylock, or rookie Kenny Anderson?

At the time, Nets’ coach Bill Fitch decided to take the approach of gradually bringing Kenny Anderson into the grand scheme of things. Mookie Blaylock would be his starter for the 1991-1992 season, and a starter that certainly had a chip on his shoulder. He started 67 of the 72 games he played in and lead the Nets in assists and steals. Blaylock also averaged 13.8 points per contest on 43% shooting. He finished 4th in the league in steals and his impact on the defensive end of the floor helped lead the Nets to the postseason. The Nets lost in the first round at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Blaylock recorded 15 steals in the four games of the best of 5 series while recording an average of 9.5 points and 7.8 assists in the losing effort.

After leading the Nets to their first postseason since 1986, Nets’ coach Bill Fitch was fired after a clash with some of his young players. The Nets hired Chuck Daly, two-time champ with the Pistons, as their new head coach. Daly tabbed Kenny Anderson as his starting point guard despite Mookie Blaylock’s effort to get the Nets back to the postseason. On November 3, 1992, the Nets traded Mookie Blaylock and Roy Hinson to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Rumeal Robinson- a deal that cleared up any controversy on who the Nets point guard was.

Blaylock’s best years, however, were ahead of him. Mookie and new Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens worked very well together. In the 1992-1993 season, Blaylock was second only to Michael Jordan in steals. The 1993-1994 season was Mookie’s breakout year. He and Stacey Augmon helped lead the Hawks to a 55-27 record, tied with the New York Knicks for the best in the Eastern Conference. In the process, Mookie was selected as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Stars in Minneapolis and was voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive First team. He played another five seasons with Atlanta until he was dealt to the Golden State Warriors for a young rising player named Jason Terry, sound familiar?

Blaylock spent his final three seasons as a reserve for the Warriors and decided to put an end to his illustrious career after the 2001-2002 season, when he missed the final 45 games due to a strained right calf muscle. His career, however, was filled with many remarkable achievements. He was an all-star in 1994, was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team twice, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team four times. Mookie is 15th all-time in career 3-point field goals made, he is 26th all-time in career assists, 27th all-time in career assists per game, 11th all-time in steals, and 7th in steals per game. Blaylock also joins Alvin Robertson, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson, and Chris Paul as the only players to lead the NBA in steals in consecutive seasons.

Two of Mookie’s biggest fans were Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder, members of today’s band Pearl Jam. The two are both avid sports fans. Jeff’s favorite teams are the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners, while Eddie is a huge Bulls and Cubs fan. One of Jeff’s favorite players was Mookie Blaylock. Jeff admired Blaylock’s relentless play on the court despite his lack of size compared to some of the other point guards he faced.

Jeff Ament and a rhythm guitarist named Stone Gossard began playing with Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood in 1987, they put together a band named Mother Love Bone. They released their debut album, Apple, in July 1990, however Andrew Wood had passed away earlier in the year due to heroin overdose. The two broke apart, presumably out of devastation after the death of Wood, and Stone began practicing with another guitarist named Mike McCready. McCready had previously been a member of a band named Shadow which had broken up around the same time. McCready encouraged Stone to reconnect with Jeff and the three now needed a singer and a drummer in order organize a full band.

The three recorded a five-song demo type in search of a singer and a drummer. They had drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Jack Irons check out the demo to see if he had any interest in drumming with the band or if he knew anyone who could potentially be a vocalist. Irons wasn’t very interested, however, he had a basketball friend named Eddie Vedder who was in fact a very good vocalist. Vedder heard the tapes and recorded himself singing, after this he sent the tapes back out and soon enough he had an audition with the trio. After a successful audition, Eddie Vedder was now the vocalist for the new band, only seeking a drummer. Dave Krusen became the band’s drummer.

The last step in the process of forming their band was finding a name. The group agreed on the name “Mookie Blaylock”, after the basketball player who was just feeling his way around in the league at the time. They played their first show together at Ramp Cafe on October 22, 1990. The band was an absolute hit. Soon after they signed with Epic Records, but there was a slight problem. The band’s name “Mookie Blaylock” was surrounded by trademark issues. The members were forced to change the band name.

After lots of discussion, the band agreed on the name Pearl. Another rumor suggests that when the band attended Neil Young’s shows, observation they made was that his shows were extended jam sessions. Hence, the name Pearl Jam. At the time, when Eddie Vedder was asked why they had chosen the name Pearl Jam, he said that his great-grandmother’s name was Pearl and she had married a Native American man who had concocted a jam that contained a hallucinogenic cactus called peyote. Vedder later stated that the story was baloney. Vedder, in fact, did have a great-grandmother named Pearl, but that played no factor into the decision of naming the band Pearl Jam. After the name change, the band still wanted to play some kind of tribute to Mookie Blaylock. As a result, they named their debut album Ten, after Blaylock’s jersey number (left) – Ten.

Not only did Mookie Blaylock use his determination to create a successful  NBA career for himself, but he became a role model for many young kids and basketball players. Hey, he also helped inspire one of the greatest rock bands today.