Sports this week: Former NBA player spends summer with CEBL Sea Bears

YORKTON –

Byron Mullens has been something of a basketball gypsy.

Mullens spent five seasons in the NBA after being selected 24th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Mullens was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder on draft day and went on to play 189 games in the NBA with the Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers.

All told, he has appeared in 367 professional games in the NBA, NBA G-League, Taiwan, Turkey, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom and Greece.

And now the six-foot center is playing with the Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League for the 2024 season.

Mullens said he chose to play in the CEBL in large part because of his family

“What struck me, the first thing I noticed, was that I was closer to home,” he recently told Yorkton This Week in an interview.

Mullens, who has two children, the oldest 11, explained that of course there is no school in the summer, so if he was going to play summer ball, he wanted to be somewhere where he could also be a father.

“Summer is really the only time we get to spend together,” he said. “. . . The most important thing is trying to create those memories with him (his eldest).”

Mullens said he plans to bring his son to Winnipeg for part of the CEBL season.

But why Winnipeg?

“I had a conversation with (Sea Bears coach) Mike Taylor when I was in Taiwan,” he said. “Mike seemed like a real stand-up guy. . . We were open and honest with each other.”

Mullens added that he had previously played summer ball in China, but added, “I like this a lot more than playing in China.”

Asked what he likes so far in the CEBL, Mullens said, “It has kind of an NBA atmosphere.”

For the record, while in Taiwan with the New Taipei Kings of Taiwan’s P. League+, Mullens averaged 18.1 points and 10.7 rebounds in 14 games in 2023-2024.

So could his return to North America open a door to the NBA, or at least the G-League, where he had solid numbers?

Again for the record, Mullens averaged 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds over five NBA seasons, with his biggest contributions coming in Charlotte, where he played 118 games from 2011 to 2013. In the 2012–13 season, Mullens averaged a career-high 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game for the Bobcats. That season, he recorded eight double-doubles and scored in double figures 30 times, including a 25 and 18 performance against Boston on February 11, 2013.

Mullens said this isn’t something he pursues anymore.

“I am 35 years old. I had those opportunities,” he explained.

That doesn’t mean Mullens is done with basketball yet. He said he will look for a place to play with an eye on running the court for another three years. At that time, his eldest is going to high school and he wants to be home to witness those years with his own eyes.

That said, Mullens has no regrets about the NBA being a thing of his past.

“I get to travel the world and get paid for it,” he said.

However, Mullens’ experience makes him something of a sage for younger Sea Bears.

“They have questions,” Mullens said, adding that some of the questions are about what it’s like in the NBA, but also about playing abroad and how to find success in the game. “. . . How to be a professional on the field, but also off it.”

Could it be that Mullens, something of a mentor these days, will turn to coaching?

“I was talking to Mile (Taylor) about it,” he said, eventually adding that he doubts he has the personality to coach. “I don’t know, I have the patience for it.”

Instead, Mullens sees himself more on the training side.

“I’m not really an Xs and Os guy.”

With experience all over the world, how does the CEBL score?

Mullens said teams have to contend quickly with camp lengths of just a few days and a season of just 20 games in a very short time frame.

“It’s tough for a team,” he said, but added that he sees the potential for the Sea Bears to make everything fall into place.