Erik Murphy (born October 26, 1990) is a French-born Finnish-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the Fukushima Firebonds of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2013, he also represents the Finnish national team.

High school career

Murphy played

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

at St. Mark's School in

Southborough, Massachusetts Southborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It incorporates the villages of Cordaville, Fayville, and Southville. Its name is often informally shortened to Southboro, a usage seen on many area signs and maps, though ...

. Considered a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Murphy was listed as the No. 22 power forward and the No. 79 player in the nation in 2009.

College career

Murphy accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the O'Connell Center, Exactech Arena at the ...

team from

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. Murphy became the 49th Florida Gator to record 1,000 points in his collegiate career and was the only Gator to receive first-team all-conference accolades in 2013. He proceeded to become a regular in the starting lineup in his junior year, and was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in 2012 and 2013.

Professional career

Murphy was selected with the 49th overall pick by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

in the 2013 NBA draft. On July 10, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Bulls. On November 6, 2013, Murphy made his NBA debut for the Bulls, playing one minute and not recording any stats. He scored a career-high 2 points on three occasions: December 10, 2013 vs.

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, December 28, 2013 vs.

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and March 13, 2014 vs.

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. On April 3, 2014, he was waived by the Bulls. On April 5, 2014, he was claimed off waivers by the Utah Jazz. On July 22, 2014, Murphy was traded, along with

John Lucas III John Harding Lucas III (born November 21, 1982) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketba ...

and Malcolm Thomas, to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in exchange for

Carrick Felix Carrick Felix (born August 17, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player. He played three years of college basketball for Arizona State before being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2013 NBA dr ...

, a 2015 second round draft pick and cash considerations. On September 25, 2014, he was traded, along with

Dwight Powell Dwight Harlan Powell (born July 20, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal and is a member of the Canadia ...

, Malcolm Thomas and the Cavaliers' 2016 and 2017 second-round picks, to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in exchange for

Keith Bogans Keith Ramon Bogans (born May 12, 1980) is an American former basketball player who last served as an assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Kentucky. School and col ...

and two future second-round picks. On October 27, 2014, he was waived by the Celtics. On November 1, 2014, Murphy was selected by the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in ...

with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA D-League draft. On July 4, 2015, Murphy signed with

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for the 2015–16 season. In late December 2015, he left Beşiktaş. On January 4, 2016, he signed with Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece for the rest of the season. On June 26, 2016, Murphy signed with

Strasbourg IG Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket, most commonly known as SIG Basket or SIG Strasbourg, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Strasbourg. The club, founded in 1929, competes domestically in the French Pro A League, and ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

for the 2016–17 season.< He will join Finnish national coach Henrik Dettman who reached an agreement with the Strasbourg IG earlier. On July 28, 2017, Murphy signed with

Nanterre 92 Nanterre 92 is a professional basketball club from the city of Nanterre (a western suburb of Paris), France. The club plays in the top-tier level basketball league in France, the Pro A, since 2011. Founded in 2011 as JSF Nanterre, the club plays ...

for the 2017–18 season. On February 11, 2018, Murphy signed with

New Basket Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well-s ...

of the Italian LBA, but didn't play for them. On March 17, he signed with the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as t ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He signed a three month deal, with an option for the remainder of the season, with the

Skyliners Frankfurt The Skyliners Frankfurt, currently known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle. The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga sinc ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

on August 28, 2018. On January 28, 2019 he has signed with Baxi Manresa of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

National team career

Murphy made his debut for the Finnish national team in August 2014 in a friendly match against Lithuania. He recorded nine points and five rebounds in his debut appearance. He later played in the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

where Finland's campaign was ended at the group stages; Murphy averaged 6.8 points over five games. He represented Finland again at

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

, helping his team advance out of the group stage.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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Personal life

Murphy's father,

Jay Murphy Jay Dennis Murphy (born June 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Bullets. College career He attended high ...

, is a former NBA player while his mother, Päivi, played for the

Finland women's national basketball team The Finland women's national basketball team represents Finland in international women's basketball competitions. They are governed by Basketball Finland. Finland has appeared in five editions of the EuroBasket between 1952 and 1987, with 6 win ...

from 1988–1994. His younger brother Alex Murphy also played at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The Murphys are Catholic and members of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Wakefield, Rhode Island. He holds both

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

passports.Murphy brothers will impact Finland future
/ref>

References

External links

*
Florida Gators bioESPN.com bioFinnish national team statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Erik 1990 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American people of Finnish descent Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Massachusetts Bàsquet Manresa players Beşiktaş men's basketball players Büyükçekmece Basketbol players Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Finnish expatriate basketball people in France Finnish expatriate basketball people in Turkey Finnish expatriate basketball people in Spain Finnish men's basketball players Finnish people of American descent Florida Gators men's basketball players Fukushima Firebonds players Lega Basket Serie A players Nanterre 92 players New Basket Brindisi players Oklahoma City Blue players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Southborough, Massachusetts Power forwards (basketball) SIG Basket players Skyliners Frankfurt players Sportspeople from Lyon Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts