The last time the Charlotte Bobcats practiced at Community College of Philadelphia, Flip Murray made sure to remind coach Larry Brown that he still holds all the school scoring records.
Intramural records.
That Murray spent a year there as a student, but not a basketball player, speaks to the uncommon path he took to the NBA. The North Carolinas and Dukes weren't all over him and he also wasn't one of those preps-to-pros phenoms.
Just a resilient kid from Philadelphia who worked his way from junior college to DivisionII Shaw to a half-dozen gigs with various NBA teams.
And now, surrounded by various former can't-miss prospects, Murray is the Bobcat who can't seem to miss. Over his past four games, Murray has averaged 17.2 points on 22-of-40 shooting from the field and 11-of-18 from 3-point range.
"Flip gives us options," teammate Stephen Jackson said recently. "Every really good team has someone like that coming off the bench."
By "someone like that," Jackson meant a versatile, mentally tough guy with the mind-set to take big shots. It was Murray's 3-pointer that changed the game in Cleveland - it broke a tie and the Bobcats never trailed again.
Based on his resume, you wouldn't pick Murray as a long-term NBA player, but it seems that disjointed background made him into a player. Unlike so many of his peers, he doesn't assume everything will go perfectly.
He came home from Meridian Community College in Mississippi to care for two sisters while his mother found work. He gave up competitive basketball for a year, but never worried basketball would give up on him.
"It's Philly - basketball's all around," Murray recalled. "There was always going to be a connection."
That connection became Joel Hopkins, the former Mount Zion Academy coach, who took over at Shaw and looked to fast-track the program via junior-college stars and disgruntled DivisionI players.
Hopkins' pitch made great sense - this is the guy who prepared Tracy McGrady for the NBA - so Murray came to Raleigh. Murray so dominated the CIAA, some coaches adopted "Murray Rules'' a la "The Jordan Rules," the Detroit Pistons' guidelines for guarding Michael Jordan.
"He knew the players and the coaches and the scouts," Murray said of Hopkins' NBA ties. "He said, 'The recognition's going to be there.'"
By the spring of 2002, Shaw was 28-5 and Murray was averaging 23.2 points. That earned him DivisionII national player of the year and a second-round selection by the Milwaukee Bucks.
But he hadn't yet made it. Murray was the fifth of five guards.
"I've never worried about what I can't control," Murray said. "I had Sam Cassell and Kevin Olie ahead of me (at the point) and Ray Allen and Michael Redd in front of me (at shooting guard). I knew I wouldn't play, but I knew I'd learn."
Things improved following a trade to Seattle and a slew of injuries to teammates. The Sonics used him plenty and others noticed.
And a pattern emerged; he'd last about two seasons with a team. He never received a long-term contract, but he was never unemployed.
His deal with the Bobcats - one season for about $2million - is typical of how he sustained a career.
"No problem with that," Murray said. "I've had a lot of coaches and learned a lot of systems. It's pretty easy at this point to adapt."
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