Ed Murphy

Edward Murphy (born January 14, 1956) is a retired American professional professional basketball player.

During his playing career, Murphy was nicknamed Radar, "Lucky Luke", and "Ed-la-Gâchette", which in French means, “Ed-the-Trigger”.

While at Marist High, the 6'4" tall shooting guard-small forward played high school basketball. At Marist, he quickly proved himself as a player, after spending hours of training working on adjusting his jump shots and overall basketball technique. During his 1973–74 senior high school season, Murphy averaged 33 points per game.

In 1974, Murphy decided to attend Merrimack College, where he played college basketball with the Merrimack Warriors, in the NCAA Division II, until 1978.

In his 1974–75 college freshman season, Murphy, who was known for his long-distance shooting, averaged 15.0 points per game.

In his 1975–76 college sophomore season, he averaged 23.0 points per game, and he was an NCAA II Second Team All-American selection.

In his 1976–77 college junior season, Murphy the NCAA II in scoring, with an average of 32.0 points per game.

During that same season, he set the Merrimack single-season school records, for both per game scoring average, at 32.0, and for the most total points scored in a single season, with 896.

He was an NCAA II First Team All-American selection for the 1976–77 season.

While at Merrimack, Murphy twice led the school to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, in the 1976–77 and the 1977–78 seasons, where they lost both times to the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

Murphy's career single-game scoring high with Merrimack was 48 points.

He finished his college career as Merrimack's all-time leading scorer, in both points per game average, at 26.4, and in total points scored, with 2,874.

In his 1977–78 college senior season, Murphy averaged 31.3 points per game.

He was also an NCAA II First Team All-American selection for the 1977–78 season.

Murphy was selected by the Atlanta Hawks, in the 8th round of the 1978 NBA Draft, with the 160th overall draft pick.

Since Murphy played at a small college basketball program, in the NCAA's Second Division, the Atlanta Hawks' management were only willing to offer him a non-guaranteed contract.

Murphy decided to reject the Hawks' non-guaranteed contract offer.

As a result, Murphy never played in the NBA, and instead decided to play professional club basketball in Europe.

At the age of 23, Murphy began his pro club career in the Netherlands, with the Dutch Basketball League club BOB Oud-Beijerland, where he played during the 1978–79 season.

He signed a contract with BOB Oud-Beijerland in November 1978.

His contract in the Netherlands was the result of advice that was given to the club by the sports agent Glinder Torain, and also due to the scouting of the team's player-coach, Charis Sideris.

In his first Dutch League game, on 25 November 1978, Murphy made a sensational debut against the league's then defending champions, EBBC Den Bosch, as he scored 41 points in the game, despite his team losing the game by a sore of 90–109.

Murphy's performance provoked the ire of EBBC Den Bosch's head coach, Ton Boot.

In a Dutch League game against Radio Muzette Rotterdam-Zuid, Murphy had another outstanding game, as he scored 49 points in the encounter.

As a result of such performances, Murphy was selected to the Dutch League All-Star Game, in which he scored 30 points.

His team's coach, Charis Sideris, would years later state that, "I remember how Wim Benschop and I had followed his successful campaign. We watched him play, with an excited look and a smile. The class".

With a scoring average of 35.8 points per contest, Murphy was the leading scorer of the Dutch League, in the 1978–79 season.

His club, BOB Oud-Beijerland, finished the season in fifth place in the league, with a losing record of 15–21, and thus failed to make the league's playoffs.

After spending a season in the Netherlands, playing in the Dutch Basketball League, Murphy joined the Belgian Basketball League club R.C. Mechelen.

He also won the Belgian Basketball League championship in the 1979–80 season, three French Pro A League championships (1982–83, 1983–84, and 1984–85), three French Federation Cup titles (1981–82, 1982–83, and 1984–85), and two Swiss Cup titles (1985–86 and 1986–87).

In his first season with the club (1979–80), Murphy won Belgian League's championship.

During his pro club career, Murphy won two European-wide third-tier level FIBA Korać Cup championships, in the 1981–82 and 1982–83 seasons.

In September 1982, Murphy told the French basketball magazine Maxi-Basket, "It is too hard to hold on. So in the fall of '78, I decided to find a job. I worked for two months in the United Parcel Service, and in November, I got a call from Glinder Torain, who placed American players in Europe. I decided to come try my luck in the Netherlands".

In 2016, Murphy's number 8 jersey was retired by Limoges CSP.

In 2020, he was named the French League's Best Foreign Player of the 20th Century.

Murphy was inducted into the French Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2021.

Edward Murphy, more commonly known as Ed Murphy, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey.

He started playing in organized school basketball competitions at a very young age, where he showed himself to be a young prodigy in the sport.

At the age of 10, in a elementary school game, Murphy scored 68 points.

He later attended Marist High School.