Tod James Murphy (born December 24, 1963) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and retired professional basketball player. Since 2009, Murphy has been the head coach at Gordon College, leading the Fighting Scots to two

Commonwealth Coast Conference The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with a Connectic ...

championships, the first coming in his first season with the team (2009–10) and the second in 2013–14. Murphy played five seasons of professional basketball in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He was selected by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in the third round (53rd overall) of the 1986 NBA draft. A 6'9" center-forward from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

, Murphy played for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

and Golden State Warriors over the course of his NBA career. He played in a total of 191 NBA games and scored 1,049 career points. On March 17, 1990, as a member of the Timberwolves, he scored a career-high 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to his tenure at Gordon, Murphy served as an assistant coach for

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, as well as his alma mater at UC Irvine.

Professional career

NBA draft and debut (1986–87)

After graduating from UC Irvine, Murphy was selected 53rd overall in the third round of the 1986 NBA draft by the

. After being cut during training camp, he began playing overseas in the Italian League; however, he began sustaining knee cartilage damage in an exhibition game only eight days after his arrival in Europe. He returned home to the United States for surgery, attending several UC Irvine games as a volunteer assistant coach. The following year, Murphy was signed by the

at the beginning of the as a replacement for

Michael Cage Michael Jerome Cage Sr. (born January 28, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and current broadcast analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Basketball career A 6'9" power forward/center from San Diego State, he is the Aztecs ...

, who was a holdout. Murphy played 19 minutes in the opening game of the season but was cut once Cage reagreed to terms with the team.

CBA championship MVP (1987–89)

After missing two months with mononucleosis, Murphy then signed with the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for the remainder of the 1987–88 season. The Patroons would go on to win the 1988 CBA championship, while Murphy ended the season as the most valuable player of the CBA championship series. Towards the end of the season, Murphy earned an offer from the Golden State Warriors to join the team for the final 16 days of the NBA season, but declined the offer to focus on winning the CBA title. Murphy later recalled of the situation, "To play in the NBA was my lifetime dream and I couldn't have passed it up. But we were right in the middle of the playoffs and I wanted to win the championship so badly... So I stayed." He received tryout camp invitations from both the Warriors and Boston Celtics in the 1988 offseason, but was not offered a regular-season contract by either team. Murphy spent the 1988–89 season playing in Spain for BBV Collado Villalba. He played in all 36 games for the team, averaging 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds in 37.1 minutes per game.

Breakout years with Minnesota Timberwolves (1989–92)

During the summer of 1989, the

, who were one of two new expansion teams for the 1989–90 NBA season invited Murphy to a free agent camp and a rookie camp in June and July respectively. On August 16, 1989, Murphy signed a one-year contract with the team. Murphy said that he considered his opportunity with the Timberwolves "one more chance" to launch his NBA career, adding, "If it doesn't work out this time, I'll make a career overseas." The Timberwolves began their season with only five victories in their first 26 games, leading Timberwolves head coach

Bill Musselman William Clifford Musselman (August 13, 1940 – May 5, 2000) was an American basketball coach in the NCAA, the ABA, the WBA, the CBA, and the NBA. He was known for his trademark intensity, once being quoted as saying, "Defeat is worse than deat ...

to make some rotation changes, which included inserting Murphy into the starting lineup. Murphy played the rest of the season as a regular starter, setting a then-team record on January 2 with 20 rebounds in a game against the Clippers. On March 17, Murphy set a career-high by scoring 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, a game the Timberwolves narrowly lost (101–99). Despite some minor injuries (leading the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' Mike Penner to call him "Minnesota's man of 10,000 aches"), Murphy played in all 82 games of the Timberwolves' inaugural season.

Move to Houston, injury (1992–93)

After being waived by Minnesota, Murphy joined the Houston Rockets for an offseason workout and signed with the team before the 1992–93 season began. However, early in his tenure with the team, he suffered a recurring hamstring injury, forcing him to miss most of the season. Murphy eventually recovered for the final two months of the season but never played a game for the Rockets as the team did not want to lose their chemistry. He earned $500,000 from his contract with Houston.

Return to CBA, brief stints with Detroit, Golden State (1993–94)

Murphy participated in offseason tryouts with the Clippers and Charlotte Hornets but failed to receive a spot on either roster. He eventually returned to the CBA with the

Rochester Renegade The Rochester Renegade (later Rochester Renegades) were a professional basketball team based in Rochester, Minnesota. They played 2 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketbal ...

, who acquired him in November. The move reunited him with Musselman. Murphy received a call-up from the

on December 16. He was waived by the team on January 6. Murphy then signed a ten-day contract with the Warriors on January 17 as a replacement for

Byron Houston Byron Dwight Houston (born November 22, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'5", 250-pound power forward, he played collegiately for Oklahoma State University and was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round (27t ...

after Houston suffered a sprained ankle.

Final years as a player (1994–98)

Murphy spent his final seasons playing for teams in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Japan. He returned to Italy to join Kleenex Pistoia for the remainder of 1994. He then joined Valvi Girona in Spain for the 1994–95 season. After a brief stint in Greece, Murphy spent the following season (1995–96) with Italy's Virtus Roma. His final two seasons came with the Daiwa Securities Hot Blizzards in Japan, where he played until his retirement in 1998.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Clippers , 1 , , 0 , , 19.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .750 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 82 , , 59 , , 30.4 , , .471 , , .372 , , .709 , , 6.9 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .7 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 52 , , 19 , , 20.4 , , .396 , , .059 , , .667 , , 4.9 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .4 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 3 , , 9.1 , , .488 , , .500 , , .599 , , 2.3 , , .2 , , .2 , , .2 , , 2.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .500 , , - , , .500 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 2 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , - , , - , , - , , .5 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 191 , , 81 , , 21.3 , , .454 , , .290 , , .679 , , 4.9 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .5 , , 5.5

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Tod 1963 births Living people Albany Patroons players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Long Beach, California CB Girona players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Detroit Pistons players Golden State Warriors players Gymnastikos S. Larissas B.C. players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers players Minnesota Timberwolves players Niigata Albirex BB players Olimpia Basket Pistoia players Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players People from Lakewood, California Power forwards (basketball) Rochester Renegade players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Sportspeople from Long Beach, California UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball coaches UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball players UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball coaches