Ronald "Flip" Murray (born July 29, 1979) is a retired American professional basketball player who last played for Al Mouttahed Tripoli of the Lebanese Basketball League. At 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st), Murray played as a point guardshooting guard. After attending Strawberry Mansion High School in Philadelphia, where he starred on the basketball team, he played college basketball for four seasons, first at the Meridian Community College in Meridian, Mississippi, from 1997 to 1999, and then at Shaw University located in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 2000 to 2002. He is nicknamed "Flip" by childhood friends who often said he looked like Bernie Mac's character, "Flip", from the movie Above The Rim.[1]

Ronald Murray
Murray in 2008 with the Atlanta Hawks
Personal information
Born (1979-07-29) July 29, 1979 (age 45)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolStrawberry Mansion
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College
NBA draft2002: 2nd round, 42nd overall pick
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career2002–2014
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Number15, 22, 2, 6
Career history
2002–2003Milwaukee Bucks
20032006Seattle SuperSonics
2006Cleveland Cavaliers
20062008Detroit Pistons
2008Indiana Pacers
2008–2009Atlanta Hawks
2009–2010Charlotte Bobcats
2010Chicago Bulls
2011Efes Pilsen
2012Austin Toros
2013Azovmash Mariupol
2013Austin Toros
2014Al Mouttahed Tripoli
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Career

edit

Murray was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with pick number 42 in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft,[2] after being NCAA's Division II Player of the Year during his senior season at Shaw,[3] as he led the Shaw University Bears to the Division II Final Four in basketball. In his first few NBA seasons he played for the Bucks and for the SuperSonics in Seattle, where he developed as a scoring threat in 2003–04, substituting for Ray Allen who missed 26 games due to injury, averaging 12 points in 25 minutes, while appearing in all 82 matches.

On February 23, 2006, he was traded by Seattle to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Mike Wilks and cash considerations.[4] In his brief stint with the Cavs, Murray averaged his career-highs in nearly every category.

On July 18, 2006, Murray signed with the Detroit Pistons for $3.6 million over two years, in an effort by the team to improve its bench depth.[5] In the 2006–07 season, Murray started eighteen games (twelve in place of point guard Chauncey Billups and six in place of shooting guard Richard Hamilton).[6]

On February 22, 2008, Murray was waived by the Pistons.[7] On March 1, he was signed by the Indiana Pacers.[8] There was an expectation the Los Angeles Clippers would sign Murray,[9] but he elected to go with the Pacers instead.[10]

On August 13, 2008, Murray signed with the Atlanta Hawks.[11]

On September 25, 2009, the Charlotte Bobcats signed Murray reportedly to a one-year $1.99 million contract.[12]

On February 18, 2010, Murray was traded in a packaged deal to the Chicago Bulls for Tyrus Thomas.[13] Murray's final NBA game was played in Game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference First Round against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 27, 2010. The Bulls would lose Game 5 to the Cavs 94–96, with Murray recording 6 points and 3 rebounds. Chicago dropped the series to Cleveland 4–1.

On January 13, 2011, he signed with the Turkish team Efes Pilsen S.K. until the end of the 2010–11 season.[3]

In October 2012, he signed with the Memphis Grizzlies,[14] but he did not make the team's regular season roster.[15]

In January 2013, he signed with the Ukrainian team Azovmash Mariupol.[16]

On October 31, 2013, he was reacquired by the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League.[17] On April 11, 2014, he signed with Al Mouttahed Tripoli of Lebanon for the rest of the 2013–14 season.[18]

Miscellaneous

edit
  • NCAA Division II Player of the Year during his senior season at Shaw University
  • Led Seattle SuperSonics' 2003 summer-league team with 22.9 ppg
  • Sonics 2003 opening-night starter at shooting guard
  • Hit game-winning shot over Latrell Sprewell at the buzzer in 89-87 Seattle victory at Minnesota on November 11, 2003
  • Scored career-high 31 points for Seattle on 11-23 shooting vs. Miami on November 18, 2003
  • Scored 20 or more points in 10 of first 11 games of 2003–04 season, in absence of Ray Allen
  • Selected to play in the 2004 Rookie Challenge. Representing the SuperSonics, Murray scored 25 points and dished out 10 assists for the sophomores.[19]
  • Tied career high 31 points for the Charlotte Bobcats against Orlando on November 16, 2009[citation needed]
  • Has played for every NBA team in the Central Division (Bulls, Bucks, Cavaliers, Pacers, Pistons).

NBA career statistics

edit
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Milwaukee 12 0 34.1 16.2 .000 345 .1 .3 .3 .0 1.9
2002–03 Seattle 2 0 10.0 .400 .000 .000 1.5 1.0 .0 .0 2.0
2003–04 Seattle 82 18 24.6 .425 .293 .715 2.5 2.5 1.0 .3 12.4
2004–05 Seattle 49 6 18.0 .361 .253 .738 2.0 1.3 .6 .2 7.0
2005–06 Seattle 48 2 22.6 .397 .224 .717 1.8 2.5 .6 .1 9.9
2005–06 Cleveland 28 25 36.7 .448 .308 .702 2.4 2.8 1.4 .3 13.5
2006–07 Detroit 69 18 21.4 .404 .289 .725 1.6 2.7 .7 .2 6.7
2007–08 Detroit 19 2 18.3 .410 .222 .595 1.9 3.4 .7 .1 7.5
2007–08 Indiana 23 17 22.9 .425 .389 .754 2.0 3.5 1.1 .1 11.0
2008–09 Atlanta 80 2 24.7 .447 .360 .760 2.1 2.0 1.1 .2 12.2
2009–10 Charlotte 46 1 21.6 .389 .313 .710 2.1 1.8 .6 .3 9.9
2009–10 Chicago 29 1 23.4 .397 .311 .762 2.9 1.8 .6 .1 10.1
Career 487 92 22.7 .414 .304 .725 2.1 2.3 .8 .2 9.9

Playoffs

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005 Seattle 4 0 15.5 .211 .000 .571 1.5 1.3 .0 .5 3.0
2006 Cleveland 13 5 30.7 .330 .208 .813 3.2 1.6 .7 .2 8.1
2007 Detroit 12 0 11.3 .355 .000 .727 .8 1.2 .3 .1 2.5
2009 Atlanta 11 0 31.0 .341 .280 .865 2.7 2.5 1.1 .3 11.8
2010 Chicago 5 0 19.4 .405 .333 1.000 2.6 2.0 .4 .0 8.4
Career 45 5 23.0 .339 .256 .821 2.2 1.7 .6 .2 7.1

References

edit
  1. ^ Shackleford, Rusty (January 22, 2017). "Murray strong sixth man for Hawks". Gainesville Times. "I don't know where that came from," Murray said. "My nickname came from the movie 'Above the Rim."'
  2. ^ "NBA Draft Board". nba.com. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Efes Pilsen brings in Flip Murray - Latest - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL
  4. ^ "Cavaliers Acquire Ronald Murray". NBA.com. February 23, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  5. ^ "Pistons Sign Guard Ronald "Flip" Murray". NBA.com. July 18, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  6. ^ "2006-07 Detroit Pistons Starting Lineups". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
  7. ^ "Murray Waived". NBA.com. February 22, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  8. ^ Pacers Sign Flip Murray
  9. ^ Cassell finally gets his contract buyout
  10. ^ Murray signs with Pacers for rest of season, ESPN
  11. ^ "RONALD "Flip" MURRAY SIGNS WITH ATLANTA". NBA.com. August 13, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  12. ^ "Bobcats sign free agent combo guard Ronald "Flip" Murray". NBA.com. September 25, 2009. Archived from the original on September 28, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  13. ^ "Bulls receive Murray and Law for Thomas". NBA.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
  14. ^ Grizzlies add Ronald Murray and Kyle Weaver to training camp
  15. ^ Memphis Grizzlies waive Ronald Dupree, Jerome Jordan, Ronald Murray
  16. ^ Azovmash adds Murray to the roster
  17. ^ Austin Toros Announce Trainig [sic] Camp Invitees Archived 2016-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Ronald 'Flip' Murray signs in Lebanon with Moutahed Tripoli
  19. ^ Stoudemire Showcases Skills for Sophs
edit