MURPHY, Calvin Jerome

(b. 9 May 1948 in Norwalk, Connecticut), Hall of Fame basketball player who was one of the greatest small guards and most proficient foul shooters in National Basketball Association (NBA) history.

Murphy was the only boy in a family of seven sisters. As a basketball player for Norwalk High School he was three times selected All-State and twice All-America. A five-foot, nine-inch dynamo, Murphy was the most valuable player (MVP) of the prestigious Dapper Dan Classic in 1966 with thirty-seven points and the Allentown Classic with sixty-six points. The Basketball News voted him the top high school player in the country in 1966, his senior year at Norwalk High School.

After an outstanding high school career, Murphy turned down over 230 scholarship offers to attend Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, just north of Buffalo. He made his mark immediately when he averaged 48.9 points per game as a member of the freshmen team. After a stellar freshman season, Murphy joined the varsity team for the next three years. He played under head coaches Frank Layden and Jim Maloney and led the Purple Eagles in scoring each year.

As a child he twirled the baton—as did many of his sisters—and during his first two years in college he was featured at many of the Buffalo Bills' American Football League (AFL) games.

A three-time consensus All-America (first team twice, 1968–1969 and 1969—1970; second team 1967–1968), Murphy finished his college career with 2,548 points. His 33.1 per-game average still ranks as fourth best in Division I history behind Pete Maravich of Louisiana State University (44.2), Austin Carr of Notre Dame (34.6), and Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati (33.8). Only five players in NCAA Division I history have averaged more points in one season than Murphy.

On 7 December 1968 Murphy scored 68 points against Syracuse—still the third-best mark against a Division I opponent. He scored 30 or more points in 42 of the 77 games he played for Niagara, 30–39 points 23 times, 40–49 points on 13 occasions, and 50 or more points 6 times. He also made 84.9 percent of his free throws.

In 1969—1970, his senior season, Murphy led the Purple Eagles to a 22–7 record and a berth in the NCAA tournament. Niagara lost in the second round to Villanova. Murphy earned his B.A. in 1970 and faced his professional career. Also in 1970 he married Vernetta Sykes; they eventually had seven children.

Murphy's tremendous scoring ability continued in the thirteen years he spent as a member of the San Diego/Houston Rockets. (He was also drafted by the Pittsburgh Condors of the American Basketball Association, but chose to play in the NBA.) Murphy was selected by the Rockets, then a San Diego team, in the second round (eighteenth pick overall) of the 1970 NBA draft, and averaged 15.8 points and 4.0 assists his first year. He was chosen for the All-Rookie team in 1971, joining Dave Cowens of the Boston Celtics, Pete Maravich of the Atlanta Hawks, Geoff Petrie of the Portland Trailblazers, and Bob Lanier of the Detroit Pistons. He finished fourth that year in Rookie of the Year balloting. After Murphy's first season, the Rocket franchise moved to Houston, where he spent the remaining twelve years of his career.

Murphy became recognized as the leader of the Rockets and arguably the most identified player with the young franchise. He scored more than 1,000 points in eleven straight seasons from 1970–1971 to 1980–1981. When he retired in 1983, Murphy's 17,949 career points ranked him first in Rocket history. (Hakeem Olajuwon has since passed him.) He was named to the All-Star game in 1979 and is one of four Rockets to have his number (23) retired. The other three are Rudy Tomjanovich (45), Moses Malone (24), and Clyde Drexler (22).

Aside from his scoring, Murphy made his mark with his proficient free-throw shooting. He held the NBA record for consecutive free throws made, with seventy-eight shot between 27 December 1980 and 28 February 1981, until Michael Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves made eighty-four straight to end the 1992–1993 season. (Williams eventually extended his record to ninety-seven straight free throws at the beginning of the 1993–1994 season.) Murphy still holds the record for best free-throw percentage in a season (.958 in 1980–1981) and is third on the all-time NBA free-throw percentage list (.892). Murphy (in five seasons) and fellow Hall of Famer Rick Barry (in seven seasons) are the only two players in NBA history to have shot .900 or better from the foul line in five or more seasons. Murphy led the NBA in free-throw percentage in 1980–1981 (.958) and 1982–1983 (.920), and finished among the top five in nine other seasons. In a 1981 playoff series against San Antonio, Murphy made all twenty-three of his foul shot attempts.

Murphy ranks as a great playmaker as well, with 4,402 assists in 1,002 regular-season games and 213 assists in 51 playoff games. He is the Rockets' all-time assist leader. Murphy is one of only two Rockets (the other is Olajuwon) to rank among the NBA top ten in four statistical categories in one season. In the 1973–1974 season Murphy was second in assists (7.4) and free-throw percentage (.868), fourth in field-goal percentage (.522), ninth in steals (1.94 average), and twentieth in scoring (20.4 average).

In Rockets' history, Murphy is second in points (17,949), first in assists (4,402), second in games played (1,002), second in minutes played (30,607), second in steals (1,165), second in free-throw percentage (.892), and seventh in scoring average (17.9). In 1978 he received the J. Walter Kennedy Humanitarian Award from the Professional Basketball Writers' Association of America in recognition of his work with Houston-area youth.

Murphy retired from the Rockets in 1983 as a player, and in 1989 returned to the organization as the team's community service adviser and an analyst for Rocket TV. He also works for the Clutch City Foundation, handling charitable service activities and marketing. In addition, Murphy runs the Texas Youth Academy, an organization where youngsters can meet for sports, educational development, and counseling.

In 1993 Murphy was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the City of Houston Hall of Fame and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the Connecticut Sportswriters' Gold Key Award.

For information about Murphy's career, see "Niagara's Hounding Won Calvin Murphy," Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (5 May 1977); Mickey Herskowitz, "Murphy's Contributions Make Him a Giant-sized Value," Houston Post (19 Mar. 1978); George White, "Calvin Can Hunt New Dragons Now," Houston Chronicle (28 Oct. 1983); Charlie Mitchell, "Calvin Won't Forget May 23," The Hour (Norwalk, CT) (24 May 1984); Mickey Herskowitz, "'Pocket Rocket' Still Flying High," Houston Post (20 Feb. 1986); Mike Weber, "Ten Years Later, Murphy Stands Tall Among NBA's Free-throw Shooters," Star-Ledger (6 Mar. 1991).

Douglas A. Stark