Calvin Jerome Murphy (born May 9, 1948) is an American former 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 (appro ...

player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the

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

as a guard for the San Diego/Houston Rockets from 1970 to 1983. He is a currently a member of the Houston Rockets' Space City Home Network broadcast team. Standing at a height of , Murphy has the distinction of being the shortest NBA player inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

, and to play in an

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

(the latter since tied by Isaiah Thomas in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early years

Before basketball, Calvin Murphy was a world-class baton twirler. He says he was "bullied into it" as his mother and all six of her sisters were twirlers. As an 8th grader, in 1963, he won a national championship in baton twirling. His reputation as a twirler earned him invitations to perform at major sporting events and the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, United States. The fair included exhibitions, activ ...

. In 1977, at the height of his basketball career in Houston, Murphy won the Texas State Men's Twirling Championship. He played basketball for Norwalk High School, where he was All-State three times and All-America twice. He is a member of the Connecticut Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a Connecticut Sportswriters Gold Key Award winner. Norwalk High School's address is now 23 Calvin Murphy Rd. in his honor.

College (1967–1970)

Murphy attended

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

, where he was a three-time All-American. He scored 2,548 points in 77 games (33.1 points per game). One of his best games was a 68-point outing against Syracuse University at Niagara's Gallagher Center. In 1970, he led Niagara to the 1970 NCAA tournament and advanced to the second round, where they lost to Villanova. During his career he was famous for being one of "The Three M's", along with

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Mar ...

and Rick Mount, both of whom were NCAA Men's Division I Basketball All-Americans at the same time as Murphy. Murphy is a member of the Alpha Nu Omega chapter of the

Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth largest Black Greek Lettered ...

fraternity, being initiated alongside fellow future Hall of Famer

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and ...

NBA (1970–1983)

Murphy was drafted by the

San Diego Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1967, and pl ...

(now the Houston Rockets) as the first pick in the second round (18th overall) of the

1970 NBA draft The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 NBA season, 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amate ...

. In his first season, after averaging 15.8 points and 4 assists per game, Murphy was nominated to the NBA All-Rookie team. A diminutive guard at , Murphy was known for his quickness and defensive ability. During the 1975 NBA Playoffs, Murphy averaged a postseason career-high of 24.4 points and 5.6 assists per game, as the Rockets advanced past the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in the first round (Houston was in the Eastern Conference at the time), before being eliminated by 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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

in the semifinals. Two seasons later, on March 18, 1978, Murphy set a career high with 57 points scored during a 106–104 loss to the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. The following year, he earned his only All-Star selection. During the 1980-81 NBA season, Murphy played a key role in the Rockets making it to the NBA Finals. That postseason run, on April 17, 1981, Murphy led the Rockets to a decisive Western Conference Semifinals Game 7 win over the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

with 42 points, a postseason career high. After advancing past the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

in the conference finals, in the

1981 NBA Finals The 1981 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the 62–20 Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics ...

Murphy and the Rockets lost to the

in a six-game series. Murphy retired in 1983 to make way for younger players. Murphy was one of the best free-throw shooters in league history, setting NBA records for most consecutive free throws made and for the highest free throw percentage in a single season (1980–1981), though both records have since been broken. He set many other records within the Rockets organization, including that of all-time leading scorer until that record was broken in 1994 by

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...

. Despite being among the shortest players in the league, Murphy was considered to be an "enforcer" due to his physical playing style and willingness to confront other players for hard fouls. Murphy was inducted into the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 1993.

Post-NBA life

After retirement, Murphy continued to work for the Rockets organization in numerous roles, mainly as television analyst for Rockets games. He is currently the halftime and post-game analyst for local Rockets broadcasts on Space City Home Network. In 2004, he faced trial in Houston for sexually abusing five of his daughters. He was acquitted of these charges in December of that year. He hosted ''The Calvin Murphy Show'' on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

's Houston affiliate from 2007 until its cancellation in January 2010.

Statistics and accomplishments

*Inducted to the Naismith

in 1993 *Jersey #23 retired by the Houston Rockets *Second highest Free Throw Percentage in a Season – 206 of 215 (95.8%) in 1980–81 *NBA Consecutive Free Throws Made – 3rd, 78 (December 27, 1980 – February 28, 1981) *NBA All-Rookie Team: 1971 *NBA All-Star Team: 1979 *Games played; 1,002 *Career points: 17,949 (17.9 points per game) *Career steals: 1,165 *Career assists: 4,402 (4.4 apg) *Career high points: 57 (against New Jersey Nets- March 18, 1978) *Career playoff high: 42 (against San Antonio Spurs- April 17, 1981) *1000-point seasons: 11

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Playoffs

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1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

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1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

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1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

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1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

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, 7, , –, , 37.9, , .537, , .500, , 1.000, , 1.4, , 3.7, , 1.6, , .0, , 18.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

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1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

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References

External links

NBA.com: Calvin Murphy Bio
– Murphy's NBA bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Calvin 1948 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Fairfield County, Connecticut Houston Rockets assistant coaches Houston Rockets players Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NBA All-Stars NBA broadcasters NBA players with retired numbers National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball players Norwalk High School (Connecticut) alumni Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Pittsburgh Condors draft picks Pittsburgh Pipers draft picks Point guards San Diego Rockets draft picks San Diego Rockets players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Norwalk, Connecticut

Early years

College (1967–1970)

NBA (1970–1983)

Post-NBA life

Statistics and accomplishments

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links