Eric Murdock
Personal information
Born (1968-06-14) June 14, 1968 (age 55)
Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolBridgewater-Raritan West
(Bridgewater, New Jersey)
CollegeProvidence (1987–1991)
NBA draft1991: 1st round, 21st overall pick
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career1991–2004
PositionPoint guard
Number14, 3, 5
Career history
1991–1992Utah Jazz
1992–1995Milwaukee Bucks
1995–1996Vancouver Grizzlies
1996Denver Nuggets
1996–1997Fortitudo Bologna
1997–1998Miami Heat
1999New Jersey Nets
1999–2000Los Angeles Clippers
2002Grand Rapids Hoops
2002–2003Virtus Bologna
2003Jersey Squires
2003–2004Idaho Stampede
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points5,118 (10.1 ppg)
Rebounds1,261(2.5 rpg)
Assists2,467(4.9 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Eric Lloyd Murdock (born June 14, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round (21st pick overall) of the 1991 NBA draft.

Biography

Murdock grew up in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, where his mother was hit and killed by a reckless driver when he was less than one year old.[1] He played high school basketball at Bridgewater-Raritan High School West.[2][3]

A 6'1" point guard, Murdock then played at Providence College, and held several school records at the time of his graduation, including most career steals (376, also an NCAA record that held until 2002), most points in conference games in a season (435, also a Big East record), most points in a game (48, another Big East record) and most free throws in a season (238).[4] His skills at PC earned him the nickname "EMT" standing for Eric Murdock Time. [5] Murdock played 9 seasons in the NBA from 1991 to 2000. He played for the Jazz, Milwaukee Bucks, Vancouver Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers.

His best year as a pro came during the 1993–94 season as a member of the Bucks, appearing in 82 games (76 starts) and averaging 15.3 ppg. That same year, he ranked 6th in three-point percentage in the league. The following preseason, while only 26 years old, his career was derailed by an eye injury.[6] Though he recovered later that season, he lost playing time to Lee Mayberry, and never seemed to play as well again upon being traded to the Grizzlies. In his NBA career, Murdock played in 508 games and scored a total of 5,118 points.[7]

He has also played in Italy for Teamsystem Bologna (1996–1997, reached the Italian Championship finals) and Virtus Bologna (2002–2003).[8]

On April 2, 1994, in a game against the Washington Bullets, Murdock stole the ball nine times.

On January 24, 1995, in a game against the Houston Rockets, Murdock scored a 75-footer at the buzzer in the third quarter.

From 2010 to 2012, Murdock served as the director of basketball player development for Rutgers University, working with Rutgers coach Mike Rice. He was fired in July 2012. After his dismissal, Murdock acted as a whistleblower by showing recordings of Rice launching homophobic slurs to players to Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti in late 2012, leading to the eventual firing of Rice and the resignation of Pernetti in April 2013.[9] In 2016, Rutgers settled Murdock's wrongful termination lawsuit for $500,000.[10]

In December 2018, Murdock and a fellow airplane passenger filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against United Airlines over alleged racial discrimination and false imprisonment.[11]

Murdock's cousin, Jason Murdock, played college basketball at Providence, as well, from 1993 to 1997.[12]

Career statistics

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
 *  Led the league

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991–92 Utah 50 0 9.6 .415 .192 .754 1.1 1.8 0.6 0.1 4.1
1992–93 Milwaukee 79 78 30.8 .468 .261 .780 3.6 7.6 2.2 0.1 14.4
1993–94 Milwaukee 82* 76 30.9 .468 .411 .813 3.2 6.7 2.4 0.1 15.3
1994–95 Milwaukee 75 32 28.8 .415 .375 .790 2.9 6.4 1.5 0.2 13.0
1995–96 Milwaukee 9 0 21.4 .364 .261 .667 1.6 3.9 0.7 0.0 6.9
1995–96 Vancouver 64 14 23.1 .422 .320 .809 2.4 4.6 2.0 0.1 9.1
1996–97 Denver 12 0 9.5 .455 .400 .917 0.9 2.0 0.8 0.2 3.8
1997–98 Miami 82* 1 17.0 .422 .308 .801 1.9 2.7 1.3 0.2 6.2
1998–99 New Jersey 15 8 26.7 .395 .364 .808 2.3 4.4 1.5 0.1 7.9
1999–00 L.A. Clippers 40 15 17.3 .385 .381 .638 1.9 2.7 1.2 0.1 5.6
Career 508 224 23.4 .438 .343 .786 2.5 4.9 1.6 0.1 10.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991–92 Utah 3 0 3.7 .600 .000 1.000 1.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 2.7
1997–98 Miami 5 0 25.0 .344 .222 .821 4.0 3.0 1.4 0.0 9.4
Career 8 0 17.0 .378 .200 .833 2.9 2.0 1.0 0.1 6.9

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1987–88 Providence 28 - 27.4 .413 .355 .738 3.0 3.0 3.2 0.1 10.7
1988–89 Providence 29 - 32.3 .457 .349 .762 4.7 4.7 3.3 0.3 16.2
1989–90 Providence 28 - 29.8 .419 .365 .762 4.1 4.1 2.8 0.5 15.4
1990–91 Providence 32 - 34.7 .445 .350 .812 5.3 5.3 3.5 0.2 25.6
Career 117 - 31.2 .436 .354 .784 4.3 4.3 3.2 0.3 17.3

See also

References

  1. ^ "THE N.B.A. PLAYOFFS; Murdock Regrets a Gesture In Emotion of the Moment". The New York Times. May 3, 1998. Retrieved 2008-01-01. While he was growing up in Bridgewater, sports gave Eric Murdock a chance to forget that his father abandoned him, sometimes even that his mother had died when he was 6 months old, killed by a car as she crossed a street.
  2. ^ Eric Murdock, Basketball-Reference.com. Accessed January 1, 2008.
  3. ^ Eric Murdock called a man of courage for role in release of Mike Rice video
  4. ^ "Eric Murdock Bio". NBA.com. 2002. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  5. ^ McNamara, Kevin (Jan 30, 1991). "It's official: Murdock all-time Man of Steal". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  6. ^ "A Closer Look at Eric Murdock | Hoops Analyst". 20 May 2013.
  7. ^ NBA Murdock statistics
  8. ^ "Italian Murdock statistics". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
  9. ^ Van Natta Jr, Don (4 April 2013). "The coach, the assistant and the AD". ESPN.com. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  10. ^ Sergeant, Keith (29 August 2016). "Eric Murdock finally settles with Rutgers over Mike Rice scandal". NJ.com. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Evaluating Eric Murdock's Civil Rights Lawsuit Against United Airlines | Sports Illustrated". 18 December 2018.
  12. ^ https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3194&context=cowl [bare URL PDF]
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