Tod Murphy

Tod James Murphy (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball 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 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 (NBA). He was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the third round (53rd overall) of the 1986 NBA draft. A 6'9" center-forward from the University of California, Irvine, Murphy played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons 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. Murphy played for the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1987–88 season and was selected as the CBA Playoff/Finals Most Valuable Player.

Prior to his tenure at Gordon, Murphy served as an assistant coach for University of California, Riverside, 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 Seattle SuperSonics. 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, The following year, Murphy was signed by the Los Angeles Clippers at the beginning of the as a replacement for Michael Cage, who was a holdout. Murphy played 19 minutes in the opening game of the season while Murphy ended the season as the most valuable player of the CBA championship series. 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.

Breakout years with Minnesota Timberwolves (1989–92) During the summer of 1989, the Minnesota Timberwolves, 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. leading Timberwolves head coach Bill Musselman 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. Despite some minor injuries (leading the Los Angeles Times Mike Penner to call him "Minnesota's man of 10,000 aches"),

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. The move reunited him with Musselman. Murphy received a call-up from the Detroit Pistons 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 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